


One More Year

by llexxii



Category: South Park
Genre: Drama, F/M, Friendship, M/M, Romance, Slice of Life, and clyde being an asshole, in which craig never realized what he had until he lost it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 12:56:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 44,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4180647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llexxii/pseuds/llexxii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Shut the fuck up." Craig growls at him, his voice rising as his anger starts to build up within him. "What the fuck did I ever do to you, huh? What did I do to deserve all this shit from you? You weren't like this before. We were the best of fucking friends! Since kindergarten, Clyde! Kinder-fucking-garten! What did I do to make you hate me so much, huh?! Tell me!"</p><p>can also be summarized as: Clyde leaves his best friend in the midst of their sophomore year after realizing that Craig's unwillingness to socialize with other people is dragging him down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Their Distance

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, decided to put this poor excuse of a fanfiction in AO3 as highly suggested by a friend. Enjoy!

_"What the fuck are you doing?"_

_A ten-year old Craig Tucker stands in the doorway, a backpack slung over his shoulder and his delicate fingers resting against the door frame. His blue eyes are focusing down on whatever it is his brunet companion is doing on the floor._

_"I'm making a scrapbook!" Clyde looks up from his work and grins at his best friend, his chestnut eyes glimmering with excitement before picking up a photo from a pile and showing it to the taller kid. "It's about all the adventures we've had together as the trio! See? This is when we went to that safari together and the tiger nearly ripped Token's head off." Craig cocks a brow before taking a few steps forward to take the photo. No doubt it's a photo of Token crying his eyes out while Craig and Clyde were laughing at him; a photo taken when they were eight. The dark-haired boy feels the corners of his lips tug up a bit in a smile at the memory before handing the photo back to him._

_"Are you saying you invited me here just to help you out?" He asks, his stoic look fading back in. "I thought you said we'll be doing something 'motherfucking fun'?" He shakes his head in disapproval and crosses his arms, still cocking a brow at the _brunet_ before him. Clyde still maintains his grin as he continues on with his work._

_"This_ _**is** _ _fun! We get to reminisce about stuff!"_

_Craig sighs at his friend's words, knowing that even if he disagrees to this activity, it would be pointless considering how persistent Clyde can get. He sits down beside him and decides to check out a few of the photos the other male has laid out around. They are all mostly photos of the three of them; Token, Clyde and him, having the time of their lives. The one who's usually behind the camera is Clyde's mother but as he continues to look from picture to picture, he can tell that some are taken by themselves ever since the nice lady passed away. Selfies, as what others may call it._

_However, one particular picture catches his attention and he blinks for a few times before reaching for it to get a better look._

_It's a picture of him and Clyde; probably when they were still at kindergarten. They were both wearing matching Red Racer shirts, their arms both slung over each other's shoulders. Clyde had his usual bright grin evident while Craig's was a tad bit awkward though his blue braces could easily be seen. He instantly recalls that the photo was taken the second day they became best friends. Clyde was never into Red Racer but when Craig had mentioned his great passion for it, the _brunet_ had his mother buy them matching shirts and brought them with him to school the next day._

_Seeing it now gets Craig feeling ridiculous. Matching shirts? How gay was that?_

_But that was the day he had decided that Clyde was his best friend. It was the day they decided to stick by each other's side no matter what happens. Glancing at his friend now who looks so focused with his scrapbook, Craig realizes how strong their bond is. Of course, he would not admit this out loud but he's glad that he met Clyde. He's the only dude who he can actually feel comfortable around with because Clyde doesn't judge people. He never did._

_As if feeling the stare boring through him, the _brunet_ looks up from his work to give Craig a puzzling look. Craig instantaneously looks back down at the photo, pretending that he had just unintentionally glanced at him._

_"Oh! You remember that, huh?" Craig finally looks up to see Clyde leaning closer to him to take a better look of the photo. "I still have that shirt, you know. Do you still have yours?"_

_"Uh..." Craig blinks, not exactly sure how to say it. "I kinda sold mine at a garage sale."_

_Clyde frowns at him. "Man, you suck." He gives him a nudge before snatching the photo from his hands to include it on the scrapbook. "Ya know, you really should learn how to treasure the necessary things in your life."_

_Craig scoffs at this as he picks up another photo, lazily scrutinizing it. "What's the point? They're all in my mind now. I can just remind myself of those memories anytime I want."_

_Clyde could only grunt in response, obviously infuriated with his reply._

_Craig chuckles. "Oh lighten up, Clyde." He says, tossing the photo then picking up another one. "If it makes you feel better, I'll describe the very first day we met." And just like that, Clyde immediately looks at him with hopeful baby-like eyes, his smile looking ever so excitedly innocent. Craig smirks at his reaction before casually looking back at the photo he's holding which is a photo of Clyde trying out Token's bass guitar and failing miserably._

_"We were in kindergarten." He begins, pretending to be more interested in the photo than the words he's slipping out. "I was the new kid and was always alone. I didn't mind though. I always liked to be alone. Then there was you, all goofy and smiling and shit. You were always surrounded by kids, laughing and making a fool of yourself; it's just downright embarrassing."_

_"Hey now..." Clyde frowns but Craig just continues on._

_"But then one day, when it was time to go home, my dad-" He nearly chokes at the word, shaking his head and rephrasing it. "_ _**James** _ _forgot to pick me up. I was left alone in the school playground, watching the other kids get picked up by their parents. You, for some reason, walk home by yourself but when you were just about to get to the gates, you looked at my direction. It felt weird seeing you making your way towards me. I wasn't used to seeing anyone approaching me. I think I remember scowling at you when you reached me with that stupid grin on your face."_

_"You like my grin." Clyde interjects with a teasing smile._

_"Don't interrupt me." Craig cocks a brow at him before picking up another photo. "Anyway, you greeted me for the first time and asked me about the whereabouts of my parents. I told you to fuck off and you gasped at my choice of vocabulary. Surprisingly though, you didn't threaten me to tell the teacher about what I said like what the other kids had done before."_

_"Because I'm nice!"_

_"Goddammit, Clyde. Shut the fuck up."_

_"Sorry. Proceed."_

_"As I was saying, I was surprised that you just gasped then laughed it off. You then asked me if you could keep me company and I said no. But for some weird ass reason, you still stayed anyway and started talking about your collection of comic books that I didn't give a damn before. Slowly, I found myself contributing to the conversation then one thing lead to another. Then the next day, you bought us matching Red Racer shirts even though you said you hated that show. As you handed me my own share of the shirt, you explained how friends should try and watch their friends' favorite shows so that they can relate to their interests. And then there... we're friends."_

_Silence._

_"You can speak now, assfuck."_

_"Wow!" Clyde exclaims happily, clapping his hands enthusiastically. "You have a clearer memory than I have and I'm impressed!"_

_Craig shrugs in response, handing the photo to the _brunet_ who gladly took it. "Which is why I don't have to keep things for memories. I remember every single fucking detail about everything."_

_"Yeah, yeah." Clyde chuckles as he resumes back to his work. "Do you think you'll remember this very moment though? Like the way I'm pasting these photos on the scrapbook? Or the way your hat is sorta tilted to the side at the moment?"_

_Craig frowns at him before quickly adjusting his hat, mentally cursing himself for looking like an idiot while his friend just laughs it off. To answer his question, the taller boy rolls his eyes. "No, I doubt I will remember this day because it's not exactly that memorable. It's just any other ordinary day, me chilling with you in the room, doing something shitty like we always do." Clyde remains silent at his words, his lips slightly pursed in thought. Craig takes notice of this and raises a brow at him, somehow weirden out by the other's lack of response which is something that Clyde rarely does. Then suddenly, Clyde's eyes meet Craig's blue ones and he leans closer while Craig instinctively leans back; getting a bit uncomfortable with the lack of space between them._

_The taller boy scowls at him. "Dude, what the hell are you doing?" There is a hint of evident nervousness lacing in his tone as he stares back at Clyde who appears to be determined about something. And out of nowhere, the shorter boy leans up and plants a soft kiss on his friend's forehead; over his fringes. Craig closes his eyes and stiffens at the unexpected kiss, his body freezing in shock. When he felt the absence of his best friend's lips, he slowly opens his eyes to see Clyde finally leaning away from him with a contented smile._

_"There! I bet you'll remember that!" He grins ever so boyishly._

_Craig's scowl deepens at his words and he flips him off out of pure infuriation. "Do that again and I swear, I'll rip your head off."_

_Clyde laughs. "You liiiike it~"_

_"Will you shut the fuck up and just do that shitty scrapbook?"_

* * *

"Craig? Craig!"

Craig jolts up awake at the voice calling out to him and he moves his head and his arms up from his desk to see Stan and Token looking down at him with looks of disbelief implied on their expressions. Craig takes a gander of his surroundings and realizes that he had fallen asleep in class and considering the way the students are slowly filing out of the classroom, he assumes that the bell has finally rung. He lets out a small yawn before looking back up at the two boys before him, his expression unsurprisingly bored. "What did I miss?" He asks, as if sleeping in class has already been a day-to-day basis for him. Stan and Token share a glance at each other before looking back down at the dark-haired boy.

"Everything." Stan frowns at him in disapproval. "Now get your ass up. Our coach will be pissed if we don't get to the pool in fifteen minutes."

Craig says nothing as he picks up his backpack and slings it over his shoulder, following the two teens out of the classroom. He doesn't even know why he joined the swimming team when he always finds sports to be a waste of time. Why spend your hours moving around so much when you can just stay in your room, blog about shit and eat?

"If you're regretting the decision about joining the team, then may I remind you that you joined because you figured you'll get the good side of our coach and give you a high grade in Physical Education considering how bad you are at basketball." Token's words snaps him out of his reverie and Craig could only grunt, a bit annoyed at how his friend can easily read him.

"We'll be just doing some laps, right?" Stan asks, nudging Token's shoulder. "No swimming races and all that stuff?"

"Hopefully." Token shakes his head with a sigh. "Coach gets unnecessarily mean when practice gets serious."

"Except towards Craig." Stan looks back over his shoulder to grin at the taller teen. "Being the coach's favorite must be such an advantage for you, huh? I still don't know how you do it. Staying all day in your room, not even owning a pool of your own, but once the race starts, you're a goddamn mermaid."

Craig scowls at his choice of words and before he could say anything, Token cuts him off.

"Mer _man_ would be the right word but yeah, I guess you can say Craig is naturally talented in the sport."

Craig chooses the decision to remain silent. He's never really well-informed in how to accept flattery anyway so he stays quiet. He knows he's the best in their team and it's not a choice for him if he wants to leave or not. As long as he remains as the coach's favorite, he'll definitely graduate from high school soon.

Just one more year. One more year.

_"STAN!"_

Craig looks up to see Clyde rushing towards Stan's way, grinning from ear to ear. His once pale skin had gotten slightly tan as the years had gone by and considering that he's the star basketball player in their school, any evidence of his chubby childhood had faded away. Even after discovering the fact that he's ranked quite low in the girls' "Cutest to Ugliest" list back in the fourth grade, Clyde has definitely gotten more handsome; as how most of the girls would say. Craig would never say that.

"Oh, hi man." Stan greets the brunet upon reaching him.

"Are you going to Bebe's party tonight?" Clyde asks, his childish grin never leaving.

"Oh shit, I forgot about that." Stan rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm not really sure but I guess I'll try to make an appearance. I've been trying to lay it off the alcohol for the mean time ever since Wendy and Kyle gave me this dramatic intervention."

Clyde scoffs, waving his hand dismissively. "Why do you have such kill-joys for a best friend and a girlfriend?"

"At least I have a girlfriend who cares, shithead." Stan teasingly grins at him.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Bebe cares too, just to let you know." Clyde chuckles. "But really, I'll be expecting you there." As he's about to leave, he finally takes notice of Token and Craig. "Oh hey dudes." He greets them briefly, as if he's only obligated to before finally leaving, waving at Stan then resuming back to his group of friends.

"Well then." Token shrugs. "That was brief and awkward."

The two then glance back at Craig who appears to be staring at Clyde with an unreadable expression. But when the tall teen noticed their stare, he shoots them a glare. "What?" He asks sharply, causing the two to flinch in surprise.

"Nothing." Token quickly says. "Let's just get to practice."

They all nod together and continue on their way with Craig briefly glancing at the oblivious Clyde as they pass by. He couldn't remember the last time he talked to him. It was probably years ago, all the way back before Clyde had started being more sociable than he already was and was dragged in with the party kids. Their sudden distance from each other was unintentional. It happened step by step that Craig is positive that Clyde didn't even realize that they rarely hang out anymore.

Before, the two of them would usually skip out the parties and just hang around together somewhere else. As much as Clyde had always wanted to party with the others, he had understood how Craig was never really a people-person and would usually tell him that he would rather hang out with him than get drunk like a big buffoon with other people. Craig appreciated his company. In fact, he loved it. No one could ever tolerate his attitude but Clyde. They used to do a lot of entertaining stuff together while the others would be out partying. But when Craig started feeling a bit uncertain at the possible fact that he was holding Clyde back from possibly the greatest nights of his high school life, he finally gave him a night off, telling him that he can go party with Kenny and the others because he will be busy for the night studying for their finals. Craig was never a slacker when it comes to studies so Clyde had believed him and joined the party.

However, that was the night when people had realized how fun Clyde could be and they started dragging him more to parties as the nights had gone by. Clyde would then cancel his hang outs with Craig, apologizing and telling him that he had already promised Stan and the others that he'll be attending their party. Craig didn't mind at first. He didn't want Clyde to think that he couldn't live without him. But when Clyde started making lame excuses as to how he couldn't make it to their hang outs, Craig knew they were drifting off from each other.

He never bothered to try and fix it. He didn't even know if he wanted to.

The very moment he realized that they were drifting away from each other, he thought of the possibility that Clyde had only hung out with him-had only approached him when they were kids-was because he felt sorry for him. And Craig didn't want his pity. He doesn't want  _anyone's_ pity. And that's when he thought that maybe he and Clyde not being friends was for the best. They were far too different from each other. Clyde is liked by everyone, Craig isn't. Clyde knows how to get along with others, Craig prefers to keep to himself. Clyde likes to go out a lot while Craig stays in his room and just update his blog about hamsters and other fandoms he's currently into.

He doesn't need Clyde anyway. He still has friends like Token. They don't hang out as much but Token would sometimes pay him a visit at his place and play with his Xbox while at the same time, have an intelligent conversation about school and such. Then there's Tweek. Craig didn't like him at first because he's far too jumpy and alert but he had slowly grown fond of him for some weird reason. Though, Tweek has never been to his place and he wonders why he hasn't invited him to.

"You forgot your uniform again?" Craig nearly jumps in surprise at how close Token's voice sounded in his ear but he just shakes his head and closes his locker after realizing that it's pretty empty.

"I guess I'll be skipping practice today." He says, going over to the bench to reach for his backpack but Stan immediately stops him from doing so by gripping his arm.

"No way." He says, a frown curving his lips. "There's no way I'm facing the coach's wrath just because you decided not to show up. I have an extra pair. You can use it."

Craig rips his arm away from his grip, not liking the fact that he's being touched by his supposed-to-be enemy. Stan is considered the second best in their team and Craig doesn't really see him as a threat. However, he'd be an idiot not to notice how Stan looks so determined to beat him and steal his position as their coach's favorite. Craig only shrugs his competitive attitude off though, not really caring if Stan beats him or not just as long as he gets a decent grade in Physical Education.

As Stan tosses him his extra pair, Craig easily catches it.

"So Stan," Token begins as he starts undressing himself. "are you really going to Bebe's party?"

"Well, I just texted Wendy earlier and she said that she's going." Stan sighs, obviously not in the mood to party at all. "So I don't really have much of a choice. Plus, Kyle's going too anyway."

"Let me guess," Token grins knowingly. "he doesn't have a choice either?"

"With Kenny's pleadings and puppy blue eyes? Yeah, he's pretty much obligated to go. Are you going?"

"Well, Nichole is going so why not?"

The two then turn to look at Craig who is already in his swimming trunks, barely paying attention to their conversation and having no intention in participating in it. But Token wants him to so he decides to ask, "What about you, Craig? Are you going to Bebe's party tonight?"

Craig doesn't answer. Stan chuckles at this. "Was that a rhetorical question, man? Since when have you actually seen Craig in parties?"

"Uhh... When Clyde turned thirteen?"

_Silence._

"Dude." Stan narrows his eyes at Token, giving him a 'that-wasn't-cool' look and Token flinches in realization, mouthing an apology to him. Craig remains quiet, however, as he folds his clothes and slips them into his locker as if he hadn't heard a word they just said. Token sighs and decides to drop the topic off. Despite the distance that had grown between his two friends, Token is still in decent contact with Clyde. They would even sometimes go on double dates along with Bebe and Nichole but... he has to admit that Clyde has changed. And not for the better.

He figures that it's also for the best that he and Craig aren't friends anymore. He couldn't imagine how Craig would feel if he sees how Clyde behaves now. He's no longer the goofy innocent kid they had all used to love and make fun of.

No, Clyde's different.

He became so infuriatingly arrogant. He's like the most arrogant person in school second to Cartman and that's fucking saying something.

"Let's get to practice." Craig finally breaks the silence as he heads for the door, not giving any of his team mates a look.

* * *

"Hey, Craig!"

Craig runs his fingers through his drenching wet hair as he turns around to see Token casually swimming his way towards him before nodding over to the benches. "Tweek's over there to cheer you on." Craig cocks a brow at him before following his friend's gaze to see the jumpy blond seated on the benches. When his blue eyes met his light green ones, Craig gives him a lazy wave in which got Tweek flinching harshly in surprise before nervously waving back.

"I told him to just wait for me outside." Craig mutters though Token manages to hear him.

"Don't you want your friend to see you race?"

"Race?" Craig frowns.

"Yeah, the coach just decided that you and Stan will be having another 3-lap race."

Craig couldn't help but roll his eyes in annoyance at this. What is it with everyone and their determination to challenge him and Stan with each other? He's going to win anyway. He doesn't even feel all nervous about it compared to Stan who has been swimming from lap to lap for the past fifteen minutes even though their coach has given them a 30-minute break.

"I don't feel like it." He says, swaying his arms lazily against the water.

"Well, whether you feel like it or not, you're doing it." Token purses his lips, displeased by his words. "Besides, Tweek won't be the only one watching."

As if on cue, a bunch of other students start filing in the swimming area, all shouting and cheering obnoxiously. Craig scowls at them before realizing that they are all cheering Stan's name. Stan resurfaces from the water and shakes the water out of his hair before glancing at the crowd that had climbed up the benches, causing Tweek to yelp and corner himself at the far end. Stan looks genuinely surprised while Token chuckles and nudges Craig.

"It was Wendy's idea." He says, nodding at Wendy who's seated at the lowest bench where it's the closest to the pool.

"Great." Craig responds sarcastically. "I feel much better to know that everyone will be pissed at me the very moment I win."

"Not everyone." Token points out, nodding at Tweek. "You have him."

Tweek glances at their direction, shaking and obviously looking uncomfortable at the crowd nearby. Craig couldn't help himself but hate those obnoxious teens who are scaring his friend and that's when he decides that he doesn't care if he pisses them off when he wins. At least they'll shut up and let Tweek have some space. He shakes his head and turns around to swim two more laps for practice.

_"Stan! If you win, I'll buy you a buttload of beer!"_

The voice stops all his movements, his body stiffening at the familiar tone. He looks over his shoulder to see Clyde sitting down beside Wendy and having the back of his head whacked by the girl. The brunet grins at her and says an apology, placing both of his hands together and jokingly bowing to her twice; a gesture he used to do whenever Craig snaps at him for being an idiot. Seeing him like that made Craig's stomach twist and he turns away, not realizing that he has been clenching his fists out of... he's not even sure what he's feeling but he's sure that it's not a positive one.

"You okay, man?" Token snaps him out of his thoughts.

Craig just nods before beginning his practice.

* * *

"Chill out, man. Just pick any toppings." Craig says, his blue eyes scrutinizing the assorted frozen yogurt toppings displayed before them. Tweek has been staring at it for a few minutes now, muttering stuff to himself and considering that his fingers are twitching, Craig knows that he's freaking out about which toppings to use.

"Oh god, but what if I choose the wrong topping?" Tweek says, biting his fingernails while his other hand holds his cup. "What if I chose the wrong combination and didn't like the taste? This is too much pressure for me to handle!" Craig sighs at his friend's overreaction before reaching over and placing a few M&M's and a small amount of chocolate syrup into Tweek's yogurt.

"There, now we're all happy." He takes the same toppings before guiding Tweek to the counter.

"T-Thank you." Tweek says, still shaking up a bit but has eventually calmed down. As Craig paid for their snacks, they step out of the small building to head for Tweek's place.

"A-Are you going to Bebe's party?" Tweek asks, swirling his spoon in his yogurt though not really taking a bite, afraid that he might finish it first and leave Craig eating by himself. Craig notices this and begins to eat his own, noticing how Tweek looked at him and began to eat too, syncing their scoops together.

"Is that the talk of the school right now?" Craig asks, his tone remaining unreadable.

"Sorry!" Tweek suddenly apologizes. "If you don't want to talk about it, we can talk about something else! Oh god, why did I even ask you when everyone knows you never attend such events! It was really stupid of me to ask and I wish you'd just erase that from your mind and-"

"It's erased."

"Thank you! But Jesus flipping Christ, I should be more careful with my words next time. I swear, if I blabber on and on again, I know you'd-"

_"Hey Tweek!"_

Tweek screams in surprise at the sound of his name as the two boys look up to see Bebe happily approaching them with a radiant smile. Craig notices Clyde following behind which is not really surprising considering the two have been dating for almost four months now. Bebe giggles at Tweek's reaction. "So will you be attending my party tonight?" She asks curiously.

"O-Oh, gee, I don't know..."

"He'll come." Clyde butts in, now standing beside Bebe and grinning at the shorter male. "Because I'll be bringing lots of iced coffee there, just for you, man." Surprisingly, Tweek twitches a smile at his words before slowly nodding his head.

"Okay, I guess. It wouldn't hurt, right?"

"Of course it wouldn't!" Bebe laughs, clapping a soft hand on the twitchy blond's shoulder who yelps in response.

Clyde grins at Tweek before settling his gaze on Craig who's just watching the scene. "Hey Craig! Didn't see you there!" Craig lightly scowls at his words but doesn't blame him anyway. He's really hard to notice considering his silence and despite his tall height. Bebe, as if also only noticing him, glances at his way and smiles.

"What about you, Craig? Are you going?" She asks but before Craig could reply, Clyde cuts him off by laughing obnoxiously.

"Bebe, are you seriously asking him that?" He asks, his chuckles coming off annoying to the taller male. "When's the last time you've actually seen Craig in a party?  _Right_ ,  _never_. He'll say he'll go but then chicken out later on. Besides, he'll probably be too busy working on his blog, right?" The brunet then glances at Craig's direction, as if expecting him to agree with him but Craig's scowl only grows deeper, not breaking his stare on his former friend.

"Chicken out?" He finally says, nearly crushing the paper cup in his hand. "You fucking think I'll actually chicken out from a ridiculous retarded party?" At his tone, Bebe and Tweek stare at him with uneasy looks but Clyde just smiles at him. Or is that a smirk? A challenging one? Craig couldn't tell.

"What, are you saying you'll actually  _be_ at Bebe's party tonight?" Clyde raises an amused brow at him. "You'll actually surround yourself with people who barely acknowledge your existence?"

" _Clyde_." Bebe hisses him a warning but the two boys ignore her.

Craig grits his teeth, trying to keep his temper in no matter how much he wants to smack the brunet for being such an asshole. Never once did Clyde made fun of him for being unnoticeable until now. His popularity is surely getting to his head and Craig's not even sure if he really misses this douchebag being his friend.

"Fuck off, Donovan." He says. "I'll be at the party."

"Pssh." Clyde scoffs as he takes Bebe's hand, tugging her away. "We'll see, man. We'll see. See ya later!" As if the tension between them was never there, he grins at him and Tweek before walking off with his girlfriend who obviously starts reprimanding him about his behavior. Once the two are out of sight, Tweek lets out a loud relieved sigh.

"Thank god, I thought the tension will cause us to explode out of nowhere!" He says but after realizing what he just said made no sense, he shakes his head and adds. "Gee, Clyde sure became a total asshole.."

Craig shakes his head as he dumps his snack into the trash bin. "I'll see you later, Tweek."

"H-Huh? Where are you going?"

"School."

"...What?"

* * *

Craig gasps for air as soon as he manages to resurface from the water, his heart pounding. He swims close to the wall and leans his back against it, his breath finally evening out as he stares into the water. Maybe the only benefit he gets for being the best swimmer in the team is that he has the privilege to go to the pool area whenever he wants to and right now, that benefit is quite beneficial to him. Swimming is something that he can actually do to take his mind off things. His first thought was to just watch a bunch of hamster videos but fuck, he's not a little kid anymore.

He wipes the beads of water rolling from his forehead as he sighs. What the hell is wrong with Clyde? Since when did he become so much of a dick lately? He's totally okay that the brunet barely talks to him anymore but the fact that he's making him look like a fool in front of other people just for his amusement? It just isn't something Clyde would do.

Why is he even letting this bother him anyway? It's been two years since they've last talked to each other and he knows that he shouldn't even care about how Clyde sees him anymore; just like how he doesn't care what others think about him. He gazes up at the benches, remembering how Clyde was cheering for Stan earlier and something inside him pricked. Before, he was the one Clyde would cheer for; even when the others would cheer for Stan, he'd be the one standing out in the crowd, holding out a very lame banner and cheering his name out. But just earlier, the way Clyde had frowned and said how boring the idea of swimming was getting because the taller teen kept on winning, Craig couldn't help but clench his fists again out of anger.

Yes, he's angry.

Angry at Clyde for being such an asshole.

Angry at Stan for receiving the attention he once used to have from the brunet. 

Angry at himself for letting Clyde drift away from him so easily.

Craig's eyes soften as he looks down at the water, lazily letting his hand draw circles as his mind wanders off to a very clear memory.

_"For the last damn time, control your breathing!"_

_A seven-year old Clyde heaves and pants as he tries to wipe the water off his face, his other hand clutching on the inflatable toy dinosaur nearby while Craig goes on reprimanding him about his lack of control in breathing. Once Craig was done rambling his ear off, Clyde pouts before splashing water towards his friend._

_"Be easy on me!" He whines childishly. "This is my first time in a pool and this is so hard!"_

_"It wouldn't be so hard if you quit flapping your arms like a damn penguin trying to fucking fly." Craig splashes back at him, a displeased frown evident on his features. Clyde whines again before splashing another large amount of water towards the other._

_"This is stupid!"_

_Craig splashes back. "Are you saying the only sport I like is stupid?"_

_Clyde yelps and splashes back. "No! I'm saying the idea of me swimming is stupid!"_

_Splash. "Maybe you're the one being stupid."_

_Splash. "No! You're being stupid for being a stupid teacher!"_

_Splash. Splash. "You're just really a stupid student...!"_

_Splash. Splash. Splash. "If I'm a stupid student, then you're more stupid and that's saying something!"_

_SPLASH._

_SPLASH._

_SPLASH._

_And just like that, the two engage themselves in a splashing battle with Clyde making larger splashes considering his better strength than Craig. After a few more minutes of the battle, the two finally grow tired and end up panting, staring at each other with still-challenging eyes. But after a few seconds or so, their glares broke to smiles and Clyde starts laughing hysterically while Craig chuckles at how ridiculous they probably looked splashing each other so angrily._

_"Look, if you don't want to swim," Craig says as he swims closer to his friend. "then why the hell did you ask me to teach you how to?"_

_He then notices the obvious red hue that flushes up the brunet s cheeks at the sound of the question. This just makes Craig more curious now and he just stares at his friend with a slight tilt of his head, silently urging him to answer. Clyde clears his throat uncertainly as he rubs the back of his neck; a habit he does when he's nervous about something._

_"I uh... well..."_

_"Spit it out, Clyde."_

_"W-Well...!" Clyde's face is definitely more flushed up than before. "You look so happy and contented whenever you go swimming. It's the kind of expression you rarely show at all unless we're watching Red Racer. When I saw you swim for the first time and how people had said that you are naturally talented at it, your smile looked so... I don't know, real? You were so happy about the attention people were giving you... all the praises and stuff. And I sorta wanted to see more of that from you. Since I'm sorta like the only kid in school who actually makes you smile, I thought that what if I joined you in this swimming thing? Would you smile wider? I want to swim with you because I really want to see you grin for once."_

_Craig couldn't help the appalled look that is expressed on his features as he stares at his friend's flushed face. As if taking his silence as disgust, Clyde buries his face in his hand out of embarrassment and groans. "Oh fuck, I knew I shouldn't have told you that! That was like... eugh, so gay. Gayness to the max. I bet you find me so weird now!" His words are actually muffled through his hand so Craig couldn't exactly comprehend a word he just said but the brunet looks up at him with worried eyes. "W-We're still friends, right? I mean, this isn't making you awkward or anything? Shit, did I just make things awkward between us? Please don't be awkward! I won't say anything that shitty again, I promise! Pinky swear!"_

_Craig cocks a brow at Clyde who immediately pokes out his pinky, his lips formed into a pout and his brown pleading eyes staring right back at his blue ones._

_Craig smiles a bit before gently batting his friend's hand away. "Whatever, man." He says, slowly swimming away from him. "You can talk to me in any way you want. Gay or not, just make sure it doesn't piss me off."_

_Clyde just stares at him, obviously surprised at his reaction but then he beams and nods his head. "All right then!"_

* * *

"Where the hell are you going?"

Craig glances at the doorway of his room to see his little sister giving him an incredulous look while sucking on her lollipop. Craig doesn't say anything at first as he continues to dry his hair with a towel, standing up and going to his closet to get a decent shirt for the party. "To Bebe's." He answers, not even sure why Ruby cares about where he's going. She never really asks him about his personal life because, as she had said, she doesn't give a fuck. But maybe seeing him getting ready for a party is something that the young girl has never seen before.

"Bebe...?" Ruby raises a brow. "Who's that?"

"She's my... uh... I don't know what the hell she is." Craig admits as he tosses his towel on the bed and grabs a shirt from his closet.

"Girlfriend?"

"Fuck no."

"Right, right. You're a fag." Ruby rolls her eyes as she leans her shoulder against the door frame, watching her brother roam about his room.

Craig scowls at her. "I'm not a fag, Ruby. I just don't fucking believe in labels."

"Riiight." The girl drawls before taking her leave. Craig sighs in disbelief before glancing at his reflection in the mirror. What do people wear in parties anyway? As he is seeing himself right now, he's not sure if a plain old blue shirt and a pair of old jeans are decent enough for a party. Eh, fuck it. It's not like he's planning on staying there for long anyway. He'll just make an appearance to prove Clyde that he's just fucking wrong and then he'll be on his way back home. Maybe even drag Tweek with him to his place for once because he's sure the blond is never comfortable with large crowds. His frown deepens a bit when he realizes that his dark hair has gotten longer and he doesn't have a hat to hide it. He had grown out of his blue chullo hat. Well shit, he needs a haircut. He'll worry about that later. Grabbing a jacket from his closet, he immediately leaves through the window. He knows that telling his parents about the party will become a huge unnecessary fuss and he's not in the mood for that.

The walk to Bebe's place wasn't exactly long and when Craig finally reached his destination, he realizes that the house is already loud and open to anyone. He feels his stomach twist at the sight of it. He could hear the loud laughter of the crowd inside and he feels sick. What if the music suddenly stops the very moment he steps in? What if everyone stops whatever they're doing and just stare at him, surprised that he actually attended a party? Fuck, is this even a good idea? Maybe he should just head back home and save himself from the embarrassment he's so certain he's about to face and- no, wait. He doesn't care. He  _shouldn't_ care. Just as long as he gets to wipe that smug grin off Clyde's face, he's willing to do anything. There are already a few people at the front yard, taking shots on the grass or making out in the dark areas. Craig wrinkles his nose in disgust at the sight before making his way to the door which is already wide open as ever.

He suddenly feels his fingers twitching anxiously at his sides as he enters the house. There are a few people dancing to the music, some are just drinking and chatting while some are yelling obnoxiously about some beer pong or whatever it is. Craig doesn't want to know.

He tries to brush through the crowd, pleased that he's unnoticeable as ever. He prefers it that way. Now all he needs is to look for Clyde, flip him off, tell him how wrong he is, then he can just go home. Where does Clyde usually hang around anyway during parties? He remembers how he used to picture what kind of drunk Clyde is. He never really witnessed it but he could tell that he was the funny kind of drunk; the kind where he would just do anything absolutely ridiculous just to get a laugh from the people around him. If that's the case, then Clyde would probably be somewhere where most of the people are.

"Craig?"

Well, it appears like looking for the brunet wouldn't be a problem anymore because as Craig looks up, he finds Clyde walking down the stairs with a drink in hand and a genuine surprised look on his face. Craig can't help but smirk in victory at his reaction as he slips his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Hey Clyde." He greets him lazily.

"You're actually here." Clyde points out the obvious once he's standing in front of the dark-haired boy. "Whoa, holy shit... like, wow... fuck."

Craig grimaces a bit in annoyance. "Yeah, I get it. You're surprised."

"More than that, man!" Clyde grins at him and Craig's grimace falters at the sight.

Clyde's grinning at him.  _Grinning_ at him and only him. For once in two years.

"I really thought you'd chicken out on this!" The brunet continues, slapping a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "What motivated you, huh? I doubt it's because I challenged you to. I did that once before and you still chickened out. So why the change of heart, huh? Finally realized that you're actually missing out the time of your friendless life? That's understandable. I mean, anyone who's as friendless as you are would be desperate enough to attend a party just to earn a few peers. Just remember to be picky, man. Some are really bad influence and-"

"Will you shut the fuck up?" Craig growls, harshly pushing the other boy's hand away from his shoulder. "I only came here because I..." Shit, he can't tell him that he only came to the party to prove a point. It would mean that if Clyde didn't challenge him, he would end up chickening out anyway and not attend the party. "...I only came here because I wanna see how retarded of a party your girlfriend can set. And to be honest, this is the most retarded party I have ever been into."

Clyde smiles at him as he swirls his drink. "Uh huh, and how many parties have you been into?"

Goddammit.

"Whatever." Craig grumbles, looking away; pride slightly damaged. "This is stupid. I'm leaving."

"Are you saying the only thing that gets me happily drunk is stupid?" Clyde asks teasingly though he doesn't let Craig respond for he continues on. "And don't leave, dude. You just got here! Come on, let's get you a drink! I heard you've never tried any alcohol before and well, consider this as your first and best experience!" He then reaches to grab a hold of Craig's wrist but the taller boy takes a step away from him, scowling at him.

"Fuck no." He says, his tone sharp. "I won't be dragged into your lame pathetic shenanigans, Clyde. You can party like a disgusting douchebag all you want, I won't do it."

Clyde rolls his eyes and tugs Craig's sleeve anyway. "Don't be such a pansy. Just one drink."

"I said  **no** , Clyde." Craig growls, keeping his stand firm. This time, Clyde's smile falters to a serious frown and just when he opens his mouth to say something, a voice interrupts him.

_"H-Hey, Craig! Clyde!"_

The two boys stop their bickering and glance at their side to see Tweek advancing towards them with a cup of iced coffee in hand. But when the blond notices Clyde's grip on Craig's sleeve and the annoyed scowl on Craig's features, he harshly flinches in surprise, nearly spilling his drink to himself. "O-Oh! Am I interrupting something? Shit, bad timing! Bad timing! Sorry! Go on and continue your business! Unless you two are getting into a fight then I guess maybe it is a good time for me to butt in. Or maybe you two are getting back together as best friends? Then oh Jesus, I guess this  _is_ a bad timing! I don't even know why I keep on ruining moments like these and-"

"Best friends?" Clyde raises a brow in disbelief. "What are you talking-"

Craig holds his breath as he waits for Clyde to finish his sentence. But he never did. Instead, the brunet sighs and jerks his thumb towards the taller teen's way. "Tweek, can you like tell your gay-ass boyfriend here that he should try and get a drink for once?"

Both Tweek and Craig flinch at his choice of words and the two exchange an awkward look. How the hell did Clyde know about the both of them being into the same gender? Well, everyone knows about Tweek but Craig... Craig never told anyone other than Token and Tweek that he's into any gender. As if noticing their reactions, Clyde blinks confusedly before raising his index finger thoughtfully. "Oh, did I just made a lucky guess? Are you two really butt-buddies?"

"N-No!"

"Fuck no."

The two other teens respond in unison and they both share another look before quickly looking away from each other. Tweek is adorable, Craig never had any trouble admitting that and the thought of dating him actually crossed his mind once. But, he just thinks that it's not gonna work. In fact, he doubts any relationship with him would work and he knows it's for the best if he saves Tweek from any heartaches. Clyde grins at their awkwardness before slinging his arms over their shoulders, his drink spilling a bit over Tweek's shoulder. Tweek yelps at that.

"Looks like you two could use a drink." He finally says before pushing them to the kitchen. Craig doesn't even bother to argue anymore because he knows  _how persistent Clyde can get._

Upon reaching the kitchen, Craig catches sight of a few familiar faces. He sees Kyle chatting with Stan and Wendy near the counter while Kenny stands by his side, an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders while lovingly kissing his hair; already drunk. Kyle frowns at him and nudges him away, stating that he stinks of alcohol but Kenny just laughs and presses closer to the red head, happily humming and ignoring the other's early protest. Token and Cartman appear to be having an argument at the corner and Craig isn't exactly sure what the hell they're arguing about but he manages to hear the words "lubricant", "banana", and "my little pony". What the fuck are they going on about?

"Here's the grand treasure." Clyde steps away from the two to get them each a drink from the counter, casually greeting Stan and the others.

Stan grins at Clyde but when his eyes passed over at Craig, his jaw drops in astonishment before he starts nudging Wendy and nodding towards the tall teen's direction. Wendy cuts her conversation with Kyle off to follow his gaze and her expression mirrors her boyfriend's. Kyle, obviously annoyed at the disturbance, turns and his reaction is already expected.

"Well look what the cat dragged in~" Kenny says in a sing-song voice, stepping away from Kyle to clumsily stumble towards Craig and Tweek though his blue eyes are only focused on Craig's darker ones. "Whatcha doin' here, Tucker? I thought you're planning on spending the whole night updating your blog about anime and shit?" His grin widens when he sees Tweek twitching a bit at Craig's side. "Oh. Ohhh, I see...! I see where this is going! You two decided to come out and announce-"

"Leave'em alone, Ken." Kyle sighs, tugging his boyfriend's arm away while Stan and Wendy make their way towards them. "Craig's not obviously in the mood to be made fun of."

"He never is and never will." Clyde laughs, butting in as he hands Tweek and Craig their drinks. Tweek accepts it with shaking hands but takes a few sips from it more easily compared to Craig who just stares down at it. "And since Kenny oh-so-kindly asked," Clyde goes on. "Craig came here because he said he wanted to see how retarded of a party Bebe can throw. And I was like, yeah riiiight. And he was all like, this is the most retarded party ever. And I was like, and how many parties have you been in? And he was all like, uhhhh..."

Wendy rolls her eyes at Clyde's poor way of telling a story before smiling gently at Craig. "Well it's good to see you here for once. I hope you'll enjoy your time here."

"Yeah, hopefully." Craig shrugs.

"He'll enjoy his time." Kenny grins, his free hand clutching Kyle's while the other clutches his own cup of drink. "He has his little boyfriend here, right, Tweekers?"

"A-Ack! Oh Jesus, I'm not his boyfriend!" Tweek jolts, now spilling his drink all over Stan.

"Aww fuck! Tweek!"

"Oh God! I'm so sorry! L-Let me help-"

"Don't worry." Wendy sighs, taking Stan's hand and pulling him away. "Let's get some paper towels or something."

"Hold on! I-I should help!"

Clyde steps aside to let Tweek follow the couple, rolling his eyes and mouthing a few words at Kenny who chuckles knowingly. Craig frowns at the inside joke the two are obviously sharing about Tweek and it appears like Kyle isn't exactly pleased about it too for he excuses himself from them and walks to the living room to chat with someone else. Kenny pouts at this before giving the remaining two a casual wave as he follows his boyfriend, childishly calling out to his name. And just like that, Craig and Clyde are left alone. Neither of them said anything. Craig purses his lips as he stares down at his drink, swirling it around and wrinkling his nose a bit at the strong scent.

"Aren't you going to drink that, dude?"

Craig looks up to see Clyde taking a sip from his own beverage. "What?"

"I said aren't you going to drink that? I got it just for you and the least you can do is take a sip from it."

Craig sighs and shakes his head, pushing the cup back to the brunet. "Clyde, you know perfectly well that I don't drink and I never plan to."

"Still?" Clyde purses one corner of his lips as he gestures to refusing in taking his drink back. "Nah, man. You're in a party now and you should behave properly. And by properly, I mean drinking your ass off, waving your hands up in the air and laughing as loud as you can like a fucking pothead. Wait, is that how potheads act? Well whatever, just take a sip, Craig. You'll like it. Live your life for once. Do you even know this is the reason why most people are so intimidated around you? You keep to yourself too much. And if you want to have at least  _one_ friend, you've got to lighten up and be llikable I mean, I lightened up and look at me now."

_Silence._

"I'm leaving." Craig brushes past the shorter male to place his untouched cup on the counter before making his way out of the kitchen. But before he does so, he feels Clyde's familiar grip around his wrist and he turns to scowl at him, trying to rip his hand away but Clyde only tightens his hold.

"Let. Go. Of me." Craig says through gritted teeth, emphasizing each word.

Clyde could only give him a displeased look. "Seriously man, you've gotten lamer. I'm surprised that's even possible."

He finally lets go of him and turns around to join Stan and the others, waving him off. Craig glares at his back, his breaths slowly coming out short and the evident anger he's feeling is radiating from him that people actually try to keep away from him in case he snaps. He feels something painful burning inside him as he watches Clyde laugh along with Stan and Wendy, his arm casually resting around Tweek's shoulders; as if the last words he had just told him is something he didn't mind saying even if it offended his former best friend. Craig's normally calm demeanor has slowly changed into something dangerously dark as he turns to head out. Going to the party was the biggest mistake he has ever done.

No, fuck, scratch that. Being friends with Clyde was the biggest mistake he has ever done and he wishes that he didn't let him talk to him back in kindergarten. He wishes that he had never accepted that matching Red Racer shirt. He wishes that he had never asked him to be his best friend. He wishes that he had never let the brunet make him care. He could feel his fists shaking at his sides as he pushed through the crowd, his eyes focused on the door and upon reaching it, he shoves some dude, who was just about to enter the party, away before making his way back home; ignoring the the strange looks he's receiving from the people around him.

But before he could reach the sidewalk, Token's voice stops him from his steps.

"Craig, dude! Wait up!"

Craig takes a deep shaky breath as he turns around to face Token who finally manages to reach him. "What do you want?" He asks, his tone bitter.

Token arches a brow at him. "Whoa, what's shoved up in your ass?" He asks but after noticing that Craig is in no mood, he quickly adds. "Did you just walk out of Bebe's house? Were you just seriously inside there?"

"Unfortunately."

"Whoa. That's new. Where are you going?"

"Home."

Token frowns at this. "What? Why?" When Craig refuses to answer and had just glanced at Bebe's house, Token's mouth forms an "O" in realization before nodding his head. "I see. So you and Clyde finally talked, huh? How did that work out for you?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Just when Craig is just about to turn and leave, Token quickly holds his shoulder to prevent him from doing so. Goddammit, what is it with people and stopping him from leaving?

"Maybe you need a drink, Craig."

"I don't drink."

"Come on."

Token tugs his friend's wrist, dragging him to the circle of people who are sharing some shots at the grass. Craig wrinkles his nose in disgust as he pulls away from Token's hold. "Dude, I'm serious. I don't want to drink."

"You're angry, aren't you?" His friend asks him with a slight tilt of his head. "Trust me, just one drink will make you feel a bit better. Probably even make you nicer. Okay, that was a joke but seriously, a drink will get your mind off things. I'm not gonna get you drunk, I promise."

Craig hesitates for a moment, his eyes darting to the circle of people that consists of Kevin, Red, Nichole and Butters who all appear to be oblivious of the two teens. Finally, the dark-haired boy sighs as he looks back at his friend.

"Fine. Just one drink."

Token smiles at him before leading him to the group. And as they sat down on the grass, the other teens greet Craig while at the same time, looking a bit out of place seeing the tall teen present. Token picks up an untouched glass from the grass and hands it to his friend, giving him a friendly wink before grabbing the bottle of... whatever the hell it is, Craig's not sure, from Red's hand. Once his glass is filled, Craig moves it closer to his nose to take a sniff and in a split second, he grimaces in disgust; earning a few chuckles from the others.

"Let me guess," Red smirks. "you've never had a drink before?"

"Great observation, Einstein." Craig says, his eyes still focused on his drink.

"Just drink it in one go." Kevin nods, an amused smile curved across his lips. "Tonight was Butters' first time too and look at him now. He hasn't said a word ever since." Craig looks up from his own drink to see the short blond staring down at the grass with half lidded eyes, his fingers wrapped around an empty glass and Craig wonders how many shots the dude already had. So Butters is the silent kind of drunk? He wonders what kind of drunk  _he_ would be. At that thought, he stares back at his own glass.

_'Well, here goes nothing.'_

* * *

"How are you feeling, Craig?"

Craig can't really tell who asked him that but he's pretty sure it was a chick. Or was it Butters? He licks his lips as he looks down at his empty glass with half-lidded eyes, frowning at the lack of alcohol in it. He looks back at the people he's drinking with, noticing that some are already missing. Since when did Nichole, Token and Butters leave? Why the hell are Kevin and Red grinning at him like that? Holy hell, why is his vision going hazy? He tightly closes his eyes and shakes his head before pushing his glass forward. "More. I'm going fucking blind as hell and I need the antidote." Kevin and Red laugh at this before refilling his glass.

"Geez, Craig." Kevin chuckles. "Just a few shots and you're already this drunk?"

"I think I like him better when he's drunk." Red rubs her chin thoughtfully. "He's way nice and talks more."

Craig just flips them off in response before drinking up his beverage in one go then letting out a desperate hiss afterwards. "That is some strong shit." He says, pointing at the bottle. "Potions are the bomb. I can't believe I only started trying this out now, man. Or woman."

"What made you suddenly want to drink anyway?"

Red's question brings Craig to dwell in his thoughts. What really got him to drinking? What is he even doing here? Where is he? Oh fuck, right, Bebe's party. Then he looked for Clyde... that asshole, Clyde Donovan. Right, he was mad at him. Completely infuriated with him and Token had told him that drinking will make him feel better. In fact, it did. He feels bolder for some reason as he stares at his hand, weakly moving his fingers then grinning madly at them.

"He's lost it." Kevin says as Red nods in agreement.

"I'm gonna look for... Clyde." Craig stands up, nearly losing his balance when it wasn't for Red who quickly gently pushes him back to his standing position. Craig lazily grins at her and gives her a casual salute before stumbling his way into the house. He notices that the music has turned up louder and a larger amount of people can be seen inside but Craig knows it's not gonna be difficult looking for Clyde. He always shows up whenever he's looking for him. After a few minutes, the dark-haired teen ends up stumbling at the backyard where there are a few people also drinking and making barbeque. Is that safe when drunken people are everywhere? Craig shrugs that thought off as he looks around, trying to spot a particular brunet.

As if on cue, he spots Clyde near the pool chatting with Bebe, a different cup of drink in hand. He doesn't appear to be drunk at all and Craig assumes that the guy probably has high tolerance in alcohol. What a lucky son of a bitch. Craig tries to make his way towards him without bumping into anyone, his eyes firmly fixated on the brunet who appears to oblivious of his presence for never once did he take his eyes off the blonde before him. But when Craig finally reached him, the two teens cut their conversation short and glance at his way.

"O-Oh, hello Craig!" Bebe smiles cheerfully at him but Craig doesn't bother to spare her a glance.

"Dude, what the hell are you still doing here?" Clyde frowns, obviously not pleased that he still hadn't gone home yet. But he blinks a few times before his frown fades to an amused smile. "Wait, are you drunk?"

"Shut up." Craig tugs the brunet's wrist. "Hey boobie... I mean Bebe, can I borrow your dude for a bit?"

Bebe appears to be befuddled but nods her head anyway before looking around and joining a group of girls. Clyde sighs and lets the taller teen drag him away from the crowd, heading for the other side of the house where there are surprisingly no sight of a single soul. Once they're alone, Clyde pulls his wrist away from Craig's grip and crushes his empty cup before tossing it somewhere. "So what's up?" he asks, amusement still lingering in his tone at the sight of Craig drunk. Craig doesn't anything at first. He's too busy staring at Clyde, his eyelids growing heavy and his lips slightly parted as he breathes a bit heavily. Clyde evidently looks weirden out by this for he shifts his eyes around, as if hoping no one is seeing this to save themselves from any kind of embarrassment.

"Clyde..." Craig finally begins, taking a step closer while Clyde takes a step back.

"Uh, yeah?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Clyde's normally pleased look turns into a scowl as he stares back at the taller male. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're a fucking dick." Craig continues, trying his very best not to let his eyelids grow any heavier as he shakes his head a bit. "What the hell happened to you? You've been treating me like I'm a fucking outcast."

"Because you are."

"Shut the fuck up." Craig growls at him, his voice rising as his anger starts to build up inside him. "What the fuck did I ever do to you, huh? What did I do to deserve all this shit from you? You weren't like this before. We were the best of fucking friends! Since kindergarten, Clyde!  _Kinder-fucking-garten!_ What did I do to make you hate me so much, huh?! Tell me! Tell me now or I swear to the fucking-"

"Craig, you're seriously drunk and-"

"Tell me!" Craig snaps, grabbing Clyde's collar and pushing him against the wall. Clyde nearly yelps at the sudden impact, his head hitting the wall and he lets out a small groan, looking back at Craig who's still glaring at him.

The brunet definitely looks taken aback and Craig couldn't blame him. Never in his life had he hurt Clyde out of anger. Sure, Clyde used to annoy him a lot but never to the point that he made him want to knock his teeth out. As they stare at each other for a moment, Clyde's expression turns sour and he sighs. "Fine, Craig. You want to know why? Here it is: You are the lamest dude I have ever met. It is absolutely downright embarrassing to be seen with you."

His answer was short but it's still enough to get a rise out of Craig. Craig grits his teeth and raises his fist, ready to hit him but Clyde doesn't even so much as move a muscle at the gesture. Instead, he just stares back at Craig, his brows slightly furrowed as if he's convinced about something. "You're going to hit me?" He asks, his tone almost in disbelief. "Fine, go ahead. Hit me as hard as you can." Craig tightens his fist and his hold on the brunet's collar, shaking a bit. But just as he's about to do what he's been dying to do all night, an image of a crying beaten-up 8-year-old Clyde flashes in his mind.

_"Stop it! He's had enough!" Clyde wails, falling to his knees and wiping his tears furiously. But the group of boys before him just laugh out louder as they continue to kick Craig who has already collapsed on the ground, barely moving. After a couple more taunts, kicks and hits, they finally decide to leave him alone and run off; purposely stepping on the red toy cars that belong to Craig in the process. Once they're all gone, Clyde quickly rushes to Craig's side, his cheeks stained with tears and bruises._

_"Craig! Are you okay?"_

_Craig sits up and rubs his head, blood dripping down from the corner of his lips. "Oh, I'm fucking dandy, thanks for asking."_

_"Y-You didn't have to save me, you know!" Clyde says, crying out loud again. "They wanted to beat_ _**me** _ _up! Not you!"_

_Craig just grimaces in pain when he touches his wounds before looking at Clyde who's still wailing out loud. He rolls his eyes at this before patting the brunet's head, hoping to calm him down. "Quit crying, you big baby." He says, his eyes softening a bit. When he saw those large kids picking on Clyde at the park, something inside him had snapped. The sight of his friend all bruised up and crying had gotten him moving without thinking and before he knew it, he had abandoned his Red Racer collectibles on the ground and landed a huge blow to one of the large kids' face._

_"B-B-But... But..." Clyde sobs heavily, still trying his best to wipe his tears. "They broke your toys..."_

_Craig blinks and glances at his collectibles, nearly gasping at the sight of them all being damaged. Okay, he has to admit that he feels his heart twist at the scene but he shakes his head and looks back at his friend, shrugging his shoulders. "I can always buy new ones, dude. And besides, those kids better know who not to mess with. Did you see them running away in fear after they beat the shit out of me?"_

_Clyde looks up from his hands to stare at the taller boy who's actually making an effort in smiling at him. "Why did you save me? You knew that you're nothing agasint kids as big as they are but..."_

_"Because I find you too cool to deserve that kind of treatment, Clyde." Craig frowns, a bit surprised that Clyde is still even asking why he actually risked himself to save him. "No one should ever hurt you. Not even the pathetic evil lord himself. If someone actually tries to hurt you, then they have to go through me and I'm serious about that. Hell, if I ever thought of hurting you, I would fucking hurt myself instead."_

_"C-Craig..." Clyde is obviously loss for words and after a few seconds, he starts to cry again though it's quite obvious that it is out of happiness this time._

_Craig groans at this. "Oh come on! I told you that so that you'd stop crying!"_

Craig feels his clenched fist weakening and he immediately lets Clyde go, stumbling a bit away from him. No wonder Clyde doesn't look like he's troubled about getting hit by him. Because he knows. He  _knows_ Craig could never hurt him; even if they are in this kind of situation. No matter how much of an asshole Clyde has become, Craig still sees him as that guy who liked him and looked up to him. The very same guy who knows everything about him and would often be there for him when no one was.

"I thought so." Clyde scowls at him as he fixes the collar of his shirt.

"There you are!" Token voice breaks in and their friend quickly makes his way towards Craig who nearly loses his balance. Luckily, Token manages to catch him before he could hit the grass. "Dude, I've been looking everywhere for you. Red said that you got drunk and I got really worried."

"Take him home." Clyde says, already walking away.

Token throws Craig's arm over his shoulders as Craig glances at Clyde's way.

Yeah, there's no way they'll be friends again. That much is positive.

He shouldn't even care.

They only have one more year left.


	2. Their Confusion

Craig is not exactly certain how long he has been asleep but the very moment he feels something warm and bright against his face, he slowly opens his eyes to see that the blinds of his window has been pulled up, causing the oh-so-bright sunshine to touch his face. He groans at this in frustration, immediately getting up to close the blinds. Who the fuck opened them anyway? Everyone in the family knows that there are only two rules that Craig Tucker has put up: 1) Never enter his room without knocking and 2) don't touch the blinds. Having a window in a bedroom is an idea Craig is never fond of anyway and he curses under his breath for letting his mother insist him on having one. The very moment he drowsily swings his legs over the edge of his bed, a sudden sharp pain shoots through his head.

"F-Fuck." He groans, clutching the side of his head as he bends down a bit, his eyes tightly closed. What the hell? What's the cause of this sudden headache?

"Oh good, you're up." Craig doesn't bother to look up to know who's standing in the doorway (why the fuck is the door wide open?) as Ruby's familiar green apple scent grows nearer. He sees a glass of water thrusted in his way and he takes it from his sister's hand, gulping every last drop of it desperately while Ruby just watches him.

"I don't feel good." He finally says, carelessly dropping the empty glass on his bed.

"I can see that." Ruby says, the tone of amusement lacing in her voice completely evident that Craig couldn't help but scowl at her.

"What's so funny?"

Ruby stifles a laugh as she crosses her arms, her bright green eyes glimmering with amusement. "So you went to a party last night, huh?" She asks, raising a brow to emphasize her interest in the topic. "Danced around... surrounded by girls... goofing off with Token..." Craig just looks at her with an annoyed befuddled look, not knowing where she's going with this. The short girl's smile then fades into a smirk as she traces her finger across her chin, fascinated. "...and drinking your ass off?"

And just by the sound of those words, Craig's eyes widen in realization as he recalls the events he had met last night. He remembers going to Bebe's party to prove a point but for some reason, he had ended up getting all pissed at Clyde for a reason he still couldn't remember. Token dragged him along with some other people for a few drinks. He then started acting like somebody else, stumbling around and shit. Then, what happened after that?

"Did you get into an argument with someone?" Ruby breaks his train of thoughts as she sits down beside him, the amused look on her face being replaced by a curious concerned one. Craig looks back at her, a bit surprised at her question in view of how Ruby never really shows any concern about his life. Before he could say anything, the sharp pain rushes back to his head and he grunts as he quickly looks away, clutching his head and tightly closing his eyes in attempt to ease the pain away.

"Ugh... shit..." He groans under his breath, completely regretting his decision of letting Token drag him with his drinking buddies. "Ruby... Can you just leave me alone for now?"

Ruby remains silent, as if contemplating at that thought. Craig opens his eyes and glances at her, confused that she hasn't said anything despite her great talent in coming up of relevant sassy things to say in every situation. Ruby just stares back at him and the dark-haired boy feels like he's being strictly scrutinized. After a brief moment, the girl sighs and nods her head as she carefully stands up from his bed and straightens her skirt.

"You know..." She finally says, looking down at him with an unreadable expression. "If something or someone is bothering you, you can tell me."

Without giving her brother a chance to respond, she picks up the empty glass from his bed and steps out of his room, not forgetting to close the door. Craig blinks a few times in confusion, his eyes still staring at the door. What was that all about? Did he do something last night that got Ruby unusually concern? Who walked him home? And more importantly, what happened at the party? As these questions circle through his mind, the pain shoots right back in and he groans as he drops himself down on his bed; burying his face on to the pillow. Shit, there's no way he's stepping out of his room with this headache.

But Clyde's game is today.

Craig scowls at the thought and shakes his head, mentally cursing himself for even worrying about that. Who was he fooling anyway? Whenever Clyde's basketball competition comes up, he always tries to convince himself that he doesn't give a damn about it and that it'd be for the best if the brunet's team loses. But even with those hostile thoughts, Craig would always find himself watching the game anyway while at the same time  _anticipating_ for Clyde's win. And soon after the game, he would just slip out, not surprisingly unnoticed.

It was so stupid.

And pathetic.

No, this time, he is definitely not going.

Craig scratches his head and decides to take a bath considering that he reeks of alcohol. If his parents find out about last night, he will really have to pay for it. He just hopes it was Ruby who opened the door last night and not one of his parents. Sluggishly standing up, the teen heads for his bathroom.

* * *

The bath had taken him longer than he thought but only because the water felt so strangely comforting against his skin for some reason. As Craig dries his hair with a towel, he steps out of his room only in his sweatpants to grab a quick afternoon snack (he just realized that he had slept almost half of the day away). The bath had somehow eased the pain in his head a bit and he is quite thankful of that. At least the pain is tolerable enough for him to spend the entire day blogging about some stuff. As he walks downstairs, a mouth-watering aroma welcomes him and he quickens his steps to the kitchen to see Ruby making pancakes while tunelessly humming to herself.

Ruby making pancakes? Out of the blue? Now this is something.

"Where's mom?" Craig asks as he sits down on the stool near the counter, noticing how his sister flinched at the sound of his voice.

Ruby gives him a brief glare just to emphasize her displeasure at his sudden unannounced presence before settling her focus down at her work. "She went to the grocery. Daddy went to work earlier than usual because I  _heard_ , yes, not eavesdropped, I heard that he'll be getting a promotion."

Craig could only shrug in response as he hangs his towel over his shoulder while noticing the prepared plates on the counter. He raises a brow when he realizes that there are three plates displayed before him and he wonders if his sister is having company over. He doesn't bother to ask though because personal questions such as their plans for the day are quite off-limits between them.

"Why don't you go wear a shirt before you catch a cold, dipshit." Ruby says as she places two pieces of pancakes on her brother's plate.

"I don't mind catching a cold." Craig scoffs lightly while grabbing his fork and lazily stabbing it through his food. "It would give me an excuse not to go to school."

"Well, wear a shirt nonetheless." Ruby frowns at him. "I don't want you giving my friend a heart-attack."

Craig blinks a few times before glancing at his sister. "You mean Karen's coming over?"

As if on cue, a familiar voice enters the room. "Wow! That smells good, Ruby! Oh, and umm, h-hi Craig!" Craig glances over at the doorway to see his sister's best friend, Karen McCormick making her way over to them while smiling ever so brightly. Her eyes dart over to him with flushed cheeks before she quickly averts her gaze on her friend. Craig notices that her brother, Kenny, is standing behind her. He frowns at the sight of him.

"What the hell are you doing here, McCormick? We're not allowed to have pests here."

Kenny smirks at him, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. "That's not nice, Craig. Karen is too pretty to be a pest."

Karen just playfully rolls her eyes at her brother before eagerly going over to Ruby to talk about some shit Craig never really cares about. Kenny grins at the dark-haired teen before making his way towards him, his hands casually slipped into the pockets of his orange parka. "Geez Tucker, going around your house topless like that is like you're openly inviting me to join you and make hot  _'yaoi'_ together. Did I use the term right? You're into that kind of shit or so I've heard." Just as he was about to reach for a pancake, Craig slaps his hand away.

"What do you want, Kenny?" He sighs, not in the mood for the blond's bullshit.

"Food." Kenny frowns at him before snatching the remaining pancake from the plate and taking an unnecessarily large bite before Craig could steal it away from his hand. "But also," He continues between clumsy chews. "I came to chalk to you aboutsh shome sherioush shit."

Craig grimaces at the other's barbaric behavior and wonders what on earth Kyle sees in him. "Serious shit? Like what?"

Kenny swallows his food before sneaking a glance at their two sisters then nodding his head as he leans closer to Craig to whisper, "About Clyde and what happened last night."

Craig feels his heart skip a beat at the mention of the brunet and he takes notice of the smirk Kenny shows him which pisses him off. The blond had expected his surprise reaction and Craig starts hating himself for being so easy to read. Before, people used to whine a lot about how they can barely know what he's thinking because he's just so good at keeping his expression pleasantly calm. Only Clyde was the one who could read him so easily but things changed and Craig, for some reason, has started losing his calm demeanor more often than he likes.

He looks up at Kenny who casually jerks his thumb to the living room.

With a last look at the two girls, Craig gets off the stool and follows the blond to the couch. Once they're both settled on it, Craig glances at Kenny who appears to be more focused in finishing the pancake in his hand than the so-called 'serious shit' he's supposed to tell him. Craig lets out an impatient sigh as he waits for the other to finish.

"Can I have a glass of water?" Kenny requests after finishing his snack and judging by how he flinched at Craig's scowl, he quickly nods his head. "Right, right, straight to business. Anyways, you were pretty hammered last night."

"I know that, shithead." Craig sighs. "Tell me something new."

"Let me finish, dude." Kenny frowns at him with a nudge on his shoulder. He sighs and he runs his fingers through his messy hair, somehow looking troubled as to how to open the topic. This just gets Craig more curious than ever. "You uh, sorta confronted Clyde during your drunken state." Craig feels himself stiffen at the statement as he looks away, trying to recall the events last night. He does remember getting all pissed off at the brunet... and then demanding for some alone time with him. Suddenly, the sharp pain shoots right back in his head and he groans louder than intended as he bends down and clutches the side of his head.

"Whoa, you okay, man?" Kenny quickly asks, evidently worried.

Craig grits his teeth as he tries to ease the pain away. This is no time to be experiencing this! He needs to know what happened last night! After a few more deep breaths, he finally leans back and closes his eyes for a few seconds as he tries his very best to tolerate the pain. Finally opening his eyes, he looks back at Kenny to see the blond staring at him with concern reflecting in his bright blue eyes.

"What happened?" Craig decides to ask as if what just happened didn't occur. "What did I tell Clyde?"

"O-Oh." Kenny blinks, somehow looking a bit surprised. "Well..." He crosses his arms and looks away, looking rather hesitant. "You seemed really upset that you two aren't friends anymore."

"Fuck." Craig slaps his own forehead out of frustration. He's been trying his best to make it appear like he doesn't give a fuck now that he and Clyde had grown apart, figuring that the thought might become real soon and that he really wouldn't give a fuck anymore. "I told him that?"

"Not directly." Kenny shrugs. "Though it was heavily implied. I don't think you guys noticed me there though considering I'm a good eavesdropper but I do know that Clyde was pretty pissed at you. Well, you two were pretty much pissed at each other and I thought you guys were going to engage yourselves in some brutal fist fight or something then ruin the whole party. I mean, you looked so fucking angry, even I got scared. I'm surprised Clyde didn't even cower in fear, especially when you raised your fist at him."

Craig's eyes widen at this. "Shit, did I hit him?" He suddenly feels something prick inside him at the thought of hurting Clyde. No, he couldn't have done that. There was no way he'd ever hurt him even when he's now being an incredible douchebag. Hurting Clyde is something he had never dreamt of doing.

"Nah and that got me confused." Kenny purses his lips thoughtfully while tapping his finger on his chin. "Clyde was challenging you to hit him but you just stared at him with a raised fist. You looked like you were having a silent debate with yourself before you changed your mind and let him go. Luckily, Token came to the rescue and dragged you home." As Kenny says this, Craig finds himself slowly remembering the events though they are all still quite hazy in his mind which is something that's starting to annoy him considering he's quite proud of how he easily remembers things.

"I tried talking to Clyde after that." Kenny continues. "But he wouldn't talk to anyone. I dunno, man, but he looked so... defeated...? He just went straight home. Didn't even get hammered drunk at the very least."

"Why are you telling me this?" Craig decides to ask, looking at the blond with a raised brow. "Are you expecting something in return? Food? Money?"

Kenny frowns at his expectations, obviously not pleased. "You should know by now that I'm not that desperate for food or money anymore. I have a part-time job so I don't need anyone's charity." He is saying the truth, Craig is quite impressed about that. Ever since Kenny and Kyle started dating, Kenny has been taking his life more seriously than before thanks to Kyle. He's heading off to the right direction and Craig is a tad bit jealous at how sure the blond is about his future.

"Then why the hell are you telling me this?" The taller teen repeats his question.

Kenny fiddles with his fingers as he looks down, chewing on his bottom lip before finally responding. "Well, I heard some stuff from Karen... about last night. Ruby told her about it and Karen told me so yeah, I figured that-"

"What is this 'stuff' then?" Craig asks, not exactly satisfied at the other's stalling.

"When Token dragged you home," Kenny goes straight to the point. "Ruby's the one who opened the door and Token let her take care of you from there. When she lead you to your bedroom, she helped you change and all that stuff but what really surprised me was that... uh... you erm... started... crying."

"You're fucking with me." Craig instantly says, a scowl slowly creeping on his features.

"That's a tempting thought but no." Kenny shakes his head. "You wouldn't immediately lie down on your bed and you wouldn't let Ruby leave. You just held her hand, started crying and asking her stuff like 'what's wrong with me' and all that. So yeah, I'm here right now, worried as shit."

Craig inwardly groans to himself as he rests his elbow on his knee and buries his forehead on his palm, trying to remember how he behaved around Ruby last night. Well that explains how she seems to be strangely nice earlier, telling him that he can tell her anything if something or someone's bothering him. So much for 'no personal information between each other'. Thinking about Kenny's words more, the dark-haired teen looks back up at him and raises a brow.

"Are you sure you're really worried or are you only here because Kyle told you to since he's too busy with homework bullshit to try and check me up?"

Kenny flinches at his words and grins sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Err... 50/50, I guess?"

Craig rolls his eyes. "Get out, dude. I don't need anyone's pity."

"Well okay, but are you okay?"

"Get out, McCormick."

"Are you still going to Clyde's game?"

Craig remains silent at this as he contemplates on the thought. Maybe he owes Clyde an apology for last night? Wait, why the fuck should he be apologizing? If anything, Clyde should be the one apologizing for being such a crappy human being. He shakes his head. "No, I'm not going."

"Yeah, okay." Kenny scoffs, evidently showing that he doesn't believe him as he stands up. "I'll see you later."

* * *

_"Dude, what the hell are you still doing here?" Clyde frowns, obviously not pleased that he still hadn't gone home yet. But he blinks a few times before his frown fades to an amused smile. "Wait, are you drunk?"_

_"Shut up." Craig tugs the brunet's wrist. "Hey boobie... I mean Bebe, can I borrow your dude for a bit?"_

_Bebe appears to be befuddled but nods her head anyway before looking around and joining a group of girls. Clyde sighs and lets the taller teen drag him away from the crowd, heading for the other side of the house where there are surprisingly no sight of a single soul. Once they're alone, Clyde pulls his wrist away from Craig's grip and crushes his empty cup before tossing it somewhere. "So what's up?" he asks, amusement still lingering in his tone at the sight of Craig drunk. Craig just stares at him, his eyelids growing heavy and his lips slightly parted as he breathes a bit heavily._

_"Clyde..." Craig finally begins, taking a step closer while Clyde takes a step back._

_"Uh, yeah?"_

_Without another word, he tugs Clyde's wrist again and pushes their lips together, pulling the brunet close against him as he wraps one arm around his waist; feeling Clyde tense up under his touch. The taller teen eagerly pushes him back against the wall, causing Clyde to gasp in surprise and he quickly takes this opportunity to slip his tongue in. With his hand still holding Clyde's wrist up, he slips his other hand down under the other's shirt, tracing his fingertips delicately against his back and he feels Clyde slightly writhe under him. Surprisingly enough, Craig finds the brunet responding to the kiss._

_Their tongues swirl around each other hungrily and desperately as Craig feels Clyde's hand clutch the front of his shirt, pulling him closer until they're pretty much pressed up against each other; giving the dark-haired teen the chance to feel Clyde's arousal. Clyde lets out a surprised breath of moan the very moment Craig thrusts his hips, grinding their groins together. Craig, satisfied by the sound the other had slipped out, breaks the kiss to trail his lips down the brunet's neck; sucking and biting while Clyde clings to him, carefully tilting his head to the side for more access as he lets out small moans._

_"You want this, don't you?" Craig growls against the shorter teen's neck, grinding harsher against him as Clyde bites down his lower lip to keep himself from making any more noises. "You want this as much as I want it, don't you, Clyde?" Craig lets his wrist go and trails his hand down between them, reaching down into the brunet's jeans and squeezing him teasingly over his boxers. Clyde lets out a soft gasp at the sudden contact as Craig chuckles huskily against his neck before reaching up to flick his tongue against his earlobe, feeling the other shudder under his touch._

_"C-Craig..." Clyde says with shaky breaths. "T-This is..."_

_"Wrong?" Craig squeezes him harder, causing Clyde to moan louder than intended. "But you seem to fucking love it when you're being touched like this."_

_"Oh God..." Clyde breathes heavily, thrusting his hips up against Craig's hand._

_"You love it." Craig smirks down at him, palming him harshly over his boxers, loving how Clyde's face twist a bit in pleasure. "And the fact that we're doing this out here in public is making you hornier, am I right, Clyde? Say it. You want this. You fucking want this." Clyde finally looks up at him with half-lidded eyes and Craig feels himself getting harder just by the sight of his lustful look._

_"Shut up." Clyde growls at him before tugging him close to press their lips together. Craig slips his hand out of his jeans and wraps his arms around the shorter male's waist, pressing him fully against the wall as he grinds against him harder. He loves the little moans Clyde is letting out. He loves how Clyde feels so desperate against him. And he especially loves how Clyde is thrusting against him, as if he needs more of his touch. Feeling their hard members desperately rubbing against each other is already enough to make Craig insane._

_The brunet finally breaks the kiss and Craig leans his forehead against his, their lust-filled eyes staring at each other._

_And that's when Clyde decides to break the silence._

_"Just fuck me already. Please."_

"CRAIG! WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

Craig's eyes instantly open at the loud banging on the door and it takes him a few seconds to realize where he is. Immediately sitting up on his bed, he glances at the door where the bangs still continued and he scowls at it. "What the fuck do you want, Ruby?" He asks, making sure his voice is loud enough for the girl to hear behind all her loud knocks.

_"Your boyfriend's here!"_

The sudden image of Clyde flashes in his mind and his heart starts racing at the thought of him and his dream. Shit, was he really just dreaming about...  _that?_  That is so fucked up. Since when the hell did he start dreaming about fucking Clyde? He remembers that the dream had taken place at Bebe's party last night, where the supposed-be-argument was replaced by two hormonal driven teens feeling up each other. Was that his real intention why he dragged Clyde away from the crowd while intoxicated?

No. His intention was to demand Clyde why he has been acting like such an asshole to him and absolutely nothing else.

Having that dream is... normal. Yeah, it's normal. Nothing that should be thought about.

Suddenly, a soft knock on the door snaps him out of his thoughts and he knows that there's no way the person behind the door is his sister.

"Craig?" Tweek's voice enters his ears and he sighs out of relief.

"Yeah, come i-" He stops in mid-sentence when he looks down to see that he's still definitely fully aroused from the dream.

_Shit._

"Just wait downstairs, Tweek. I'll be right down."

"O-Oh, okay."

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Craig says as he walks down the stairs, slipping a shirt on and not noticing how Tweek's cheeks immediately faded to a rosy hue at the sight of his bare torso. Once he straightens out his shirt, Craig then glances at the blond to see that he's standing by himself in the living room, fidgeting with the edge of his shirt. He raises a brow at the other's lack of response so he decides to ask again. "Tweek, what are you doing here?" Now that he thinks about it, this is the first time Tweek has ever paid his home a visit and he wonders if his purpose is important enough for him to invite himself to his house.

"U-Um..." Tweek mumbles, his eyes focused down on the floor. "I uh... I was just wondering if you'll be coming to Clyde's game."

"What?" Craig scowls at the question. "Okay, who forced you to come here and ask me that?"

"Nobody!" Tweek defensively says, looking up at him but then nearly jumping in surprise when he realizes that Craig is already standing in front of him. "I-I mean... well... Clyde said that he'll be expecting me to watch his game and... a-and... oh God, I don't even know what I'm doing here. Sorry to bother you, Craig! I knew this was a bad idea but I still went with it. I'm so sorry! I should just go." And just when Tweek tries to brush past the taller male, Craig sighs and holds his wrist before he can step away any further.

"You want someone to go with you, right?" He asks. He knows that Tweek is never comfortable with large crowds and the blond had once admitted that he feels at ease around other people when he's nearby. Craig couldn't blame him for wanting him to come along. "Fine, I'll go with you. We wouldn't want you freaking out then making a scene again, would we?"

And with that, Tweek slowly beams at him and nods his head in agreement. "R-Right! Thanks!"

* * *

Craig feels Tweek suddenly clutch his sleeve the very moment they finally reached their destination; North Park High's basketball court. As expected, the place is already packed with loudly cheering teenagers, calling out the names of the players in attempt to motivate them even though Craig has no idea how the players would even fucking understand them when they're yelling all at the same time. He looks around for a place to sit, preferably somewhere where the people nearby aren't screaming faggots.

_"Craig! Tweek!"_

The two teens instinctively turn their heads at the sound of their names to see Kenny and Kyle waving over at them, gesturing that they should sit down beside them. There's some space beside Kenny large enough for two people while the others who are seated by Kyle are not-so-surprisingly Stan and Cartman. Craig frowns at the sight and ignores them, looking around for a better spot until Tweek softly tugs his sleeve, causing him to glance down at him to see that he's looking back at him with those round pleading emerald eyes.

"D-Don't you want to join our friends?" The blond asks, shaking a bit.

 _'Don't you mean **your**  friends?'_ Craig thinks bitterly as he glances back at the others to see that Kenny is still watching them with an expectant grin while Kyle has already focused back at the game while talking to Stan. The people near them are all obnoxiously loud and Craig isn't exactly sure if Tweek would even be comfortable with that.

"It would be rude to ignore them." Tweek adds, tilting his head to Kenny's way.

"Yeah, but I don't really want to-" Craig sighs but when Tweek furrows his brows and gives him that fucking pout that Craig can never say no to, the taller teen sighs and finally nods his head. Tweek beams up at him before wrapping his soft fingers around his wrist and dragging him along to their friends.

"H-Hi guys!" Tweek squeaks a greeting to the others as he sits down beside Kenny who grins at him and gives him a soft nudge on the shoulder as a casual greeting. The others greet the two newcomers as well but Craig doesn't even bother to give them a glance as he stares at the court, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He and Tweek had arrived pretty late considering that the game has already started and Craig instantly catches sight of Clyde passing the ball to Token. Judging by how much the players are perspiring, Craig realizes that he and Tweek had arrived later than he thought.

"Who's winning?" He hears Tweek ask Kenny in spite of all the noises the people around them are making.

"Was that a rhetorical question, dude?" Kenny laughs, nudging Tweek again. "Our team, of course. Clyde is being the hero, like always."

"I-I see..."

And the game goes on with everyone unnecessarily (as Craig thinks) fired up, screaming and pumping their fists in the air. No doubt that Clyde's team is winning and seeing that proud grin Clyde has flashed at the audience, Craig holds his breath and takes the very scene in. Back then, Clyde never liked his own smile. Being a slightly chubby little boy, he thinks that when he smiles, his cheeks would get ridiculously rounder and make him seem fatter than he already was. Craig never saw his smile that way though. In fact, he was fond of his bright smile. Maybe he still is judging by how he just held his breath at the sight of Clyde's smile.

It doesn't matter if he likes his smile or not anyway. Craig can tell the brunet had already gotten cocky and finally realized that he has an attractive smile.

At the corner of his eye, Craig notices that Tweek is shaking more than usual and he glances at him to see that the blond is biting down on his nail while his eyes dart around. He doesn't even need to ask what was wrong as he reaches down to take his friend's wrist. Strangely though, he accidentally takes his hand instead and he suddenly feels Tweek tense up at the touch.  _Fuck._ As awkward as this is now, Craig knows that quickly letting him go would be far more awkward so he just keeps it there and gently tugs him closer to whisper to his ear.

_"Wanna get outta here?"_

"W-WHAT?!" Tweek looks at him with wide eyes full of shock.

Craig blinks confusedly at his reaction before rolling his eyes, realizing that the other had gotten the wrong message. "I mean, get some air. You're obviously not comfortable with the crowd."

"O-Oh." By this time, Tweek has gotten red and Craig finds it slightly endearing. Taking this as a yes, he squeezes his hand before leading him out of the court while at the same time ignoring the string of questions Kenny had thrown at them, obviously curious as to where they're heading. The two teens hurriedly leave the place, not noticing the pair of chestnut eyes that have taken notice of their leave together.

Once they're finally outside, Tweek immediately takes a deep breath.

"You feeling okay?" Craig asks him, raising a brow.

"A... A bit..." Tweek sighs, closing his eyes and focusing more on his breathing.

Craig looks away from him and takes a glance around them, wondering if there's a place nearby where they can grab some snacks. However, he's having a hard time taking a good observation thanks to the dark night sky that he has to squint a bit. Having bad eyesight really fucking sucks.

"Wanna eat at Denny's?" Tweek asks him.

"Don't you want to finish the game?" Craig looks down at him, raising his eyebrows in slight surprise.

Tweek gulps before responding. "I-I can't really focus on what's going when people are screaming at each other."

Craig couldn't help but chuckle a bit loudly at this, causing the blond to flinch in surprise. Realizing that that was his first time giving a good laugh at what the other just said, Craig quickly clears his throat as he tries to ignore the heat rushing up his cheeks in embarrassment. "F-Fine. Let's go to Denny's. I'm pretty hungry anyway." Trying to hide his embarrassment, he zips his jacket up out of lack of anything better to do before quickly walking up ahead, hearing Tweek immediately try to catch up with him.

Now that he thinks about it, Craig realizes that this is actually the first time he's leaving Clyde's game without the bother to know who will win and somehow, he feels a bit proud of himself. That's good news for him. One pathetic habit from Craig Tucker removed, check.

Will Clyde notice?

He frowns at the thought and shakes his head. Why the fuck was he even asking himself that? He knows perfectly well Clyde never noticed him in his games, not even once. Craig would always keep his focus on him and never did the brunet's eyes pass by his way. Leaving in the middle of the game is definitely a good idea for the tall teen. At least it's helping him move on from that douchebag. Fuck, he shouldn't even be thinking about him at the moment. The more he thinks about him, the more he'll find difficulty in forgetting about what they had.

"What are you getting?"

Craig blinks and looks down at the menu settled in his hands, coming to realization that they are already seated on a booth at Denny's. Shit, another reason why he shouldn't be thinking about Clyde much; he always ends up forgetting about where the hell he is or what the fuck he's doing. He notices Tweek, who's seated across from him, giving him a concerned look and Craig clears his throat before settling his gaze on the menu.

"Are you okay, Craig?" Tweek asks him from behind the menu in his hands.

"I'm fine." He mutters, distracting himself with the list of dishes before him. "What are you having? I can't really decide here."

"Hmm..." He hears Tweek hum thoughtfully. "I'll um probably just have the cranberry apple chicken salad... w-without the chicken."

Without the chicken? Craig puts his menu down and looks at Tweek with a raised questioning brow. Before he can ask though, Tweek immediately beats him to it.

"O-Oh, I'm not on a diet or anything!" He says, shaking his head quicker than intended. "It's just that my parents sorta want to try being vegans for once and... my d-dad said that if they're going vegan, I'm pretty much obligated to go vegan too."

"Obligated?" Craig frowns.

"Y-Yeah..."

"That sucks." Craig sighs as he brings his menu up again. "What a fucked up time to be thinking about going vegan when all you need is some meat inside you. I swear, if you get any more skinnier, I wouldn't be surprised to see you using a fucking cheerio as a hula hoop."

Tweek chuckles at this and says something but Craig's mind has already wandered off to somewhere as his eyes mindlessly scrutinize the list of dishes on the menu.

_"I'm tiiiired..." A ten-year old Clyde whines childishly as he turns the video camera off, his eyes fixated on the dark-haired boy before him who's busy placing an adorable hat on some dog. "Can I go home now? What's the point of being the camera man for this new show of yours if I'm not even gonna get paid?"_

_"I said I'll pay you." Craig says with a tired sigh, having a hard time keeping the hat balanced. "With my everlasting love, I mean."_

_Clyde grimaces at this and nudges his friend's back with the tip of his boot. "But I already have that!"_

_"How the hell are you so sure?"_

_"Fuck you." Clyde grumbles in defeat before fiddling with Craig's camera again, muttering a few obscenities here and there. "Why are you so desperate in beating Stan and those guys anyway? It's just a dumb show."_

_"What makes you think I'm doing this just to beat those assholes?" Craig scowls at him once he finally manages to fix the hat. He stands up and turns around to face the brunet, crossing his arms. "Haven't you thought that maybe I'm only doing this because I absolutely love animals? I mean, animals are great and you should think so too."_

_"You don't love animals." Clyde scowls back at him though his came off evidently fake. "You_ _**eat** _ _animals."_

_"Who doesn't?"_

_"People who actually love animals! Vegans!"_

_"Yuck." Craig shakes his head before snatching his camera from Clyde's hands, going over to the settings. "So what, in order to prove that I actually love animals, I need to go vegan? Clyde, your way of thinking is so messed up and I wonder what the hell I see in you. Why are you my best friend again?"_

_"Because I have your everlasting love." Clyde grins as he gives the other a playful nudge. "But kidding aside, have you ever thought of going vegan? I mean, you love animals and you know animals get killed just to be eaten. Don't you find that sad?"_

_"I don't like pigs, chicken, cows, etc. They're all ugly animals. They deserve to be eaten."_

_"CRAIG!"_

_"Done." Craig then hands the camera back to his friend, his scowl fading to something more serious; his usual stoic look. "Now hurry and film this adorable puppy up-close. I know you'll do well. You're great with your hands."_

_"Gay." Clyde frowns before pushing the record button and going over to the puppy who's surprisingly well-behaved. "But really, we should try going vegan for once. Like, let's see who can actually last longer without eating any meat or dairy products."_

_"You would't last a day, Clyde."_

_"Blasphemy! I bet I can last longer than you!"_

_"Are you seriously challenging me?"_

_Once Clyde finally manages to get the clip, he stops the camera and straightens up to face his friend; a proud grin curving up his lips. "Are you in or not?"_

_Craig purses his lips thoughtfully before sighing. "Fuck it."_

* * *

"WOHOO! DONOVAN'S THE MAN!"

Tweek nearly jumps in surprise and stops in the middle of a story he's telling Craig about his dad getting stuck in the bathtub when loud cheering enter the diner. The two teens look up to see familiar faces eagerly and obnoxiously making their way towards the tables and judging by how happy they look, Craig knows that Clyde's team won again. No surprise there. As a few more of the basketball players and cheerleaders pile in, Stan's group finally enter with Kenny resting an arm around the shoulders of a proud yet sheepish-looking Clyde.

"You were pretty awesome, man!" Stan laughs. "I thought for a minute there that you guys will lose your championship for sure!"

"Yeah well, I still got the moves, Marsh." Clyde grins cockily with a shrug. "Every player's dream is to have Clyde Donovan on his team."

"Ha! That is so lame." Kenny scoffs playfully as they pass by Craig and Tweek. Much to Craig's surprise though, he catches Clyde glancing over at them before quickly looking away and he couldn't help but frown at this. Wait, why the fuck is he getting worked up about it? Having Clyde greet him is something that rarely happens anymore and he doesn't know what the hell he was even expecting. He focuses back to his dish, pushing the remaining pieces with his fork thoughtlessly as he unintentionally listens more to the others' conversation. Strangely enough, they have decided to sit on the booth near their's.

"You know Clyde," Craig hears Kenny chuckle. "you were so fucking amazing in that game, I would definitely be honored if you give me the responsibility for your next orgasm later."

"Oh god, fuck off, Kenny." Clyde says though considering the hint of chuckles between his words, it's obvious that he isn't taking the blond seriously.

"And I heard that." Appears Kyle's voice.

"I was just kidding!" Craig could already imagine Kenny holding up both of his hands in defense while grinning at his red-headed boyfriend. "The only orgasm I will always be responsible for is my little kosher boy over here." Judging by the loud smack that followed those words, Craig assumes that the blond had attempted to hug Kyle to emphasize his adoration for him but got smacked at the back of the head instead.

"Craig, are you okay?" Tweek asks, not really paying attention to the others. "You've been playing with your food this whole time."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Uh..." Craig drops his fork and runs his fingers through his hair, not exactly comfortable with how close Clyde and the others are. More particularly Clyde. He can't really face him right now. Especially after the embarrassing scene he made last night... and that embarrassing dream he just had earlier. "Hey uh, do you wanna go-"

_"Craig! Tweekers!"_

Token's voice cuts him off and Craig feels himself stiffen at this.

Tweek looks over at them and smiles, giving them a shy wave. "U-Um, hi guys! Did we win?"

"Fuck yeah!" Token grins at him proudly. "What are you guys doing over there? Come and join us!"

Craig couldn't find it in him to turn around and look at them because for some reason, he can feel a familiar pair of eyes staring at him and he doesn't have to turn to see whose eyes are those. Before Tweek could say anything else though, Cartman cuts him off.

"Are you fags going to keep yapping all night or are we going straight down to the fucking business and actually order something?"

"Uh you guys." Clyde's voice comes up. "I think I'll just join Bebe's table over there. I mean, I kinda want to spend some time with her and all."  _Liar_. Clyde's using the kind of tone that only Craig can recognize. It's hard to explain how he can actually tell if the brunet is lying but considering the years they had spent together as best friends, Craig could easily read him just as Clyde could to him. He knows why he wants to move to another table. It's so damn obvious. Clyde knows that Tweek will agree to join them and he doesn't want to face the taller teen either.

_'Well I'm fucking glad the feeling's mutual.'_

"I'm going." Craig tells Tweek, immediately standing up. "I forgot I got some stuff to do. You can go ahead and join Kenny and the others."

"O-Oh, already?"

"Yeah, sorry, Tweek. I'll see you at school."

"But-"

Craig pays no more attention as he leaves a few bills on the table before hurriedly leaving the place, nervously shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Fuck, making a quick leave just like that shows just how weak he is in facing Clyde. Why does he keep doing so many pathetic things anyway? He thought he was better than that! He sighs to himself in humiliated defeat. It shouldn't even matter how weak he just came off to the others. It's not like he ever cared about what they think of him anyway.

Yeah, he prefers it if he keeps on thinking that way.

* * *

The day after tomorrow finally arrives but unfortunately for Craig, nothing out of the ordinary happened in any of his classes today.

Well, maybe saved for the awkward glances Clyde has been giving him from time to time which is starting to weirden him out. Since when the hell did this brunet start showing his attention on him again? Maybe he was thinking about what happened at the party. Craig groans in frustration at that thought as he leans his back against the wall of the school's pool, trying his best to relax under the feel of the water. Classes are already long over but taking his trouble thoughts in account, Craig isn't in the mood to head straight back home yet.

He just desperately needs to take his mind off things.

And that's where having swimming laps take place.

Pulling his swimming goggles down, Craig immediately restarts his laps. He's not even sure why this helps him get his mind off things. Tiring himself out is something he's never fond of experiencing but for some reason, the more he gets tired, the more he's focused on his energy than his troubles. It's relaxing and it really helps, strangely. After taking a few more laps, the dark-haired boy could feel his energy draining out and he decides to take a quick break before he could do a few more. He gasps for air the very moment he resurfaces from the water, pulling his goggles away and shaking the water out of his hair.

_"I figured you'd be here."_

Craig's gaze immediately shoots up from the water to see Clyde standing near the benches with one strap of his bag slung over his shoulder. Seeing that his brown hair is slightly wet and that he's wearing his South Park High varsity jacket, Craig can tell that the shorter male has just gone back from practice and had hit the showers before making his way to the pool area. In spite of his surprise at the sight of the brunet, Craig successfully manages to keep a straight face as he casually swims closer to the edge of the pool.

"What are you doing here, Donovan?" He asks before pulling himself up from the pool and running his fingers through his drenched hair. "Anyone outside the swimming team shouldn't be here."

"I want to talk to you." Clyde says, his tone unusually unreadable.

"About what?" Craig makes his way to the benches to grab his towel but Clyde beats him to it by picking it up first then handing it to him. Craig couldn't help the surprised yet suspicious look he gives the brunet before taking the towel from his hand then drying his hair with it. Clyde is silent for a moment which is just making the air around them heavier than Craig likes so he glances at him to see that his eyes are focused somewhere else.

Wait.

Is he staring... at his bare torso?

Craig blinks confusedly before looking down at himself, wondering if he got dirt on himself or something.

"A-About what happened." Clyde's stutter brings his attention back to the shorter male who is now looking back up at him. "At Bebe's party, I mean."

Craig frowns. "I was fucking drunk. I had no idea what I was doing so forget about how I touched you that night."

_Silence._

"Um... how you touched me?" Clyde repeats with a questioning look, curiously tilting his head to the side.

Craig feels himself tense up upon realizing what he just said. Shit, he was thinking about that damn dream instead of the actual scenario.

"I mean," He clears his throat, hanging the towel loosely around the back of his neck. "you know, how I almost fucking punched you. That wasn't cool."

"Oh."

_Another round of silence._

"Look Clyde, if you're not going to say anything, then you should take your leave already because I still-"

"You're mad at me, aren't you?"

Craig stops in mid-sentence at the unexpected question Clyde has suddenly thrown out on him. Oh so what, they're going to have a confrontation now? At the pool area? With him only in his navy blue swimming trunks and feeling like he's about to freeze to death unless he dives right back into the pool? Clyde sure knows how to choose the right timing.

"I'm not." Craig lies, pulling the towel off his neck and tossing it to the benches as he diverts his gaze anywhere but the shorter male. "Is that all? Then you should leave now."

"You're lying, man." Clyde frowns at him, slipping one hand into the pocket of his jeans. "It's so obvious."

"I'm not." Craig scowls at him. "I'm not mad at you. I'm fucking confirming it right now so you can just fucking leave. I don't have time for this nonsense."

"Dude, you actually think you can fool me?" Clyde asks and Craig notices the slight hostility lacing in the brunet's tone as Clyde takes a step closer to him. "I've known you since kindergarten. I think we both know how I can easily read you."

"Clyde," Craig gives him an unimpressed look. "we stopped talking for God knows how long. What makes you think you can still easily read me?"

"Because I know you can't look at me when you're telling me a lie."

Craig's unimpressed look changes into a scowl. "Fuck off, Clyde. I don't have time for this. Get out before someone sees you here."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me the truth!"

"Goddammit Clyde! What the hell do you want me to say?!"

"The fucking truth!"

"I'm not mad at you!"

"You sound like you are!"

Craig can feel his temper once again building up inside him as he clenches his fists on both of his sides, his glare locking with Clyde's. No, he can't lose his temper in this situation. It'll just prove that he is indeed pissed off at the brunet and having himself proven wrong is something he'd rather not face at the moment. Instead of talking back at the other, he decides to turn around to continue his swimming laps as if the brunet  isn't even there.

However, this just pissed Clyde off for he quickly drops his bag and grabs Craig's wrist. "We're not done talki-"

"Let go of me!" Craig snaps, turning around to pull his wrist away but Clyde's grip is far too tight that he just ends up pulling the shorter male closer to him and before they know it, the two go crashing down into the pool together. Before a few more seconds can pass, the two teens quickly resurface with gasps for air. In spite of what just happened though, Clyde is still stubborn enough to actually continue their argument as he holds onto the edge of the pool, glaring at Craig who's wiping the beads of water off his face.

"Why are you being so damn stubborn, Craig?" Clyde sneers at him. "Why is it so hard for you to just admit that you're mad at me? It's so obvious, a blind man can see it!"

"Are you being fucking serious here?" Craig growls at him angrily. "Why the hell do you want me to say that I'm mad at you, huh?"

"So we can fix this!"

"There's nothing to fix!"

"Then fuck it!" Clyde angrily snaps. "If you don't want to fix this, then fine! That's your damn problem! Just quit going around the school, making people feel sorry for you just so they can think of me as such an asshole! If you're really desperate to have friends, then try not looking so goddamn pitiful and making me look bad! Trying to make me come off as a heartless friend just proves how lame and pathetic you are! You're just embarrassing yourself!"

Craig didn't even know what came to him. Just by hearing those words, he suddenly finds him harshly pushing Clyde's back against the wall with his hands roughly gripping his shoulders. He can see red spots at the corners of his sight as he glares down at the brunet who just glares back at him, any hint of fear clearly not seen.

"What?" Clyde asks him through gritted teeth. "Are you going to punch me  _now_?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Are you mad at me because I actually have more friends than you now? That I have decided to leave all our lame activities and actually get a life?"

"Clyde."

"If you hate me so much, just hit me. Just fucking hit me!"

Without another word or at the very least a train of thought, Craig immediately lunges forward and roughly pushes his lips against his. He can see the brunet's chestnut eyes staring right back at him, surprised and confused but Craig pays no attention to that expression as he closes his eyes and leans more into the kiss. He feels Clyde suddenly grip his bare shoulders, as if to push him away, but instead, he feels his hands squeeze his shoulders instead. This certainly confuses the taller male. He would have expected Clyde to push him away by now but instead, he just stays there.

Immediately, Craig breaks the kiss and stares down at him, his lips slightly parted as he breathes a bit heavily. Clyde stares back at him with his face flushed and his lips slightly parted for heavy breaths.

Neither of them said anything at first until Craig decides to break the silence.

"Fuck." He hisses before quickly moving away from the shorter male and pulling himself up from the pool.

"C-Craig?"

"Just get the hell out of here, Clyde." The taller teen says as he grabs his towel and hurriedly heads for the lockers.

"B-But-"

"Leave." Craig tells him sternly before stepping into the locker room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go.
> 
> I hope you guys don't mind the Creek moments but come on, a jealous Clyde is a cute Clyde. Anyways, comments and kudos are very much appreciated. I mean, really, they motivate me to write more.


	3. Their Hesitance

Craig has been avoiding him. It's far too evident for Clyde not to notice. A week has passed ever since the incident at the pool area and Craig has been doing nothing but avoid confrontation with the brunet. Every attempt Clyde has made to talk to him about it has been unfortunately futile. Craig consistently leaves the scene swiftly whenever he sees the jock nearby. Clyde even tried paying him a visit at his place but for some reason, Ruby is the one who only answers the door and keeps on making excuses about how Craig's not home.

"What a mess." Clyde sighs as he lazily leans back against the couch. Kenny, who's seated beside him with his boots resting on the wooden coffee table, shoots him a puzzled glance before his expression switches to a displeased one.

"Well I'm sorry that my parents never really learned how to keep our house clean." The blond frowns, fishing out a potato chip from the bag and tossing it to the jock's direction. "No matter what Karen and I do, our parents and my brother still end up trashing this place up."

"I'm not talking about your house, man." Clyde sighs exasperatedly whilst picking up the potato chip that has been thrown at him and tossing it into his mouth. "I was talking about something else."

"Care to elaborate?"

Clyde heaves another sigh before shaking his head as his response in which Kenny rolls his eyes, taking another swig from the can of beer in his hand. "You know, Donovan. If you're suddenly going to blurt out something random, the least you could do is tell me what the hell you're talking about. Seriously, you've been acting strange lately." Silence follows the blond's words which is quite out of the ordinary seeing as Clyde always has a goofy response to almost everything. A tad bit astonished by this, Kenny looks at the brunet with a cocked brow. Clyde appears to be lost in his own thoughts- as if he never heard a word his friend had just told him. Kenny purses his lips thoughtfully, somehow realizing what is in the other's mind.

He feels genuinely sorry for the two boys. Kenny has always considered himself to be an immensely observant person. Spending most of his life reticent compared to his friends, he had observed every kid's attitude which results to how he can easily read people's future actions. Based on what he knows, Clyde is a goofball who enjoys being surrounded by his peers. He has always been like that even when he was still in good terms with Craig. His friendship with the tall cobalt-eyed boy is what confuses Kenny from the very beginning.

It's almost astounding to see how these two used to get along in spite of their vast differences. Clyde gets along with everyone while Craig does not. Clyde somewhat cares too much and tends to get himself tangled in Cartman's shenanigans while Craig tries his best to stray away from the four boys. (Though, Clyde had somehow ended up straying away from them too after the whole coon and friends incident). They are the exact opposite of each other but for some reason, they still got along really well. Most people would have thought that two different boys like Clyde and Craig will hardly get along at all like water and oil. But they somehow manage to mesh well together.

"Dude. Don't tell me you're falling for me too."

Kenny blinks away from his thoughts after realizing that Clyde has caught him staring. Though, instead of embarrassment filling him up, genuine curiosity takes over the blond as he tilts his head slightly to the side. " _Too?_  Whaddya mean by that?"

And just like that, Clyde's face is suddenly bursting with the familiar shade of crimson as he averts his fixed stare away from his friend. This does nothing but pique Kenny's interest.

"Clyde, seriously, what's up with you?"

Clyde fiddles with the cuff of his jacket, his eyes shifting from left to right out of hasty hesitation. "A-All right... I have something to tell you because I really...  _ **really**_ need to tell someone about this. But p-promise me you will keep your trap shut, got it?"

"You have my word." Kenny lazily raises his hand as a sign of promise.

Clyde swallows thickly, still somehow avoiding to make eye contact with the blond- feeling far too embarrassed about the story he's about to tell but he couldn't help himself. He needs to tell someone about it. And knowing Kenny, he highly doubts that the blond will make fun of him for being kissed by a dude since he most likely had done it with Kyle a number of times.

"Okay... here goes..."

* * *

"Nng... This is too much pressure..."

Craig couldn't help but roll his eyes upon hearing his friend say that for probably the hundredth time already. He came over to the twitchy blond's house so that they could work on their homework together but for the past two hours, Tweek has been doing nothing but nibble on his pencil and point out how much pressure he's going through into solving one math problem. The taller of the two averts his azure gaze away from his notebook and decides to take a look of what his friend has done so far.

"Are you kidding me." He says in a heavy incredulous tone. "Tweek, I'm almost done with mine and you still haven't finished the third problem? I thought you said you understand what I just taught you?"

"I-I do understand!" Tweek promptly comes to his own defense in a far too loud tone. Realizing that he had just spoken loud enough for his parents to hear him downstairs, he chews on his bottom lip before glancing over at Craig. "I just... I just... what if I get it wrong?"

Craig sighs in disbelief. "You're using a pencil. You can just easily erase your mistakes."

Tweek blinks for a brief moment then looks down at the pencil in his hand- the previously nervous look composing on his pale features gradually subsiding to innocent realization. "O-Oh... Right."

"Do you need me to explain the lesson again?"

"N-No! I'm good, Craig!"

Craig, already used to the blond's jumpy demeanor, only shrugs in response before focusing back on his homework. Tweek purses his lips as he maintains his stare at the taller boy, not even realizing that he's staring. Having Craig as a visitor in his room has been a common occurrence to him and his company feels really nice. He appreciatively takes notice of how the two of them are seated closely side by side before his coffee table, giving him the pleasant fact that they have gotten closer for the past few years. It's true that they didn't exactly get along back when they were kids. They used to argue and fight a lot thanks to Stan and his friends. And even after they found out that the four kids were only trying to prove a point, it didn't stop them from getting into heated arguments.

Tweek had hated Craig. And obviously, Craig had hated him back but as they sit here now side by side, Tweek couldn't remember how or when they actually started getting along.

Was it after Clyde started straying away from Craig?

No, that can't be it. Tweek's certain that he had gotten closer to Craig way before that. As he stares at his friend, he also comes to realization just how... nice Craig's scent is. It may sound creepy but it's most definitely true. It's rare to find a boy who smells daintily nice and when they do, it's usually because they're covered in heavy masculine perfume which always brings Tweek to a wave nausea. But Craig's scent is different. He's not wearing any perfume and yet he smells really nice- somewhat like the scent of green apple. He furthermore perceives how the dark-haired boy would intermittently purse his lips in thought whenever he comes across a difficult formula or how he would furrow his brows whenever he fails to comprehend a particular part of the lesson.

His skin is paler than Tweek's; making it logically apparent of the fact that he rarely hangs around outside. He almost looks so delicate.

_**Almost.** _

Anyone would have mistaken him for someone fragile but Tweek's sure they would get a shock of their life if they actually tell that to Craig.

_"You should know that your stare is making me uncomfortable."_

Tweek's body stiffens at the sudden statement the boy of his thoughts unexpectedly said and he promptly alters his stare back at his homework, his heart racing and heat rushing up to his cheeks. He swiftly begins to erase the writings on his notebook, as if the words Craig had just said failed to process in his mind. Much to his luck, Craig decides not to question anything and that gives the blond a sense of relief in spite of the evident blush forming in his cheeks.

"I'm going home." Craig says, closing his notebook and his textbook before reaching for his backpack.

Tweek immediately shoots his attention to his friend, eyes widening in fright. "W-What...?! I-I didn't mean to creep you out! I wasn't staring or anything...! I just-"

"It's not that." Craig gives him an skeptical look as he slips his things into his bag. "It's nearly seven now. Mom's gonna look for me." Tweek blinks in response and gazes up at his wall clock, realizing that his friend is right which only brings more regrettable humiliation on his part.

"R-Right..." He replies in defeat, looking down at his notebook. He doesn't really want Craig to go but he has no say in it.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Work better on that homework."

"All right."

Tweek refuses to watch the retreating back of his friend and the moment he hears the door closed, he lets out a soft sigh as he mindlessly fiddles with his pencil. Their farewells are often so blunt that it gets him wishing that maybe one day, their exchange of goodbyes would be soft kisses and caresses. He desires for Craig to actually give him that rare radiant smile of his, give him a soft peck on the lips and tell him that he'll text him once he gets home. But dreaming something like that is downright ridiculous and Tweek is highly aware of that. Craig, even if he does have a significant other, would never show such affection. He would never waste a second of his time giving someone a kiss or a smile because...

...well, because he's Craig fucking Tucker and he doesn't do sappy things. Especially to someone like Tweek.

However, if Craig actually spends a minute of his time giving someone a kiss... then that someone should consider themselves a damn lucky person.

* * *

"Whoa."

"Yeah..."

"So he really..."

"Uh huh."

"And he just stormed off?"

"Yep."

Kenny stares blankly at the TV for half a minute, trying to process everything Clyde had just told him in his mind. In all honesty, he finds it hard to believe that Craig actually initiated such an act on the brunet but at the same time, he's not at all surprised. In fact, it's about time the tall boy finally made a move on the jock. Some people might disagree or are just far too blind but Kenny had noticed the lingering- and obviously meaningful- glances Craig has been giving Clyde; even back when they were still kids and that much has proven the fact that he somewhat likes the brunet in some way. Clyde had always been oblivious about it which amused Kenny before. There were times in the boys' locker room where the blond would see Craig staring at a topless Clyde through the mirror or how he would momentarily blush whenever Clyde would playfully nudge his bare shoulder with his. Just that kind of simple skin contact always makes the dark-haired boy's face drowning in the shade of red and yet Clyde never sees it.

Until now, though.

"So what do you think?" Clyde breaks the silence as he runs his fingers through his hair, looking quite troubled. "What should I do? He's been avoiding me ever since that incident."

"I honestly don't know, man." Kenny sighs, crossing his arms and leaning back against the couch. "There are two possible reasons as to why he's avoiding you. Reason number one, he regrets what he did. Or reason number two, he actually realizes that he really likes you and is in the state of denial."

"He likes me?" Clyde skeptically looks at the taller boy. "That can't be it."

Kenny rolls his eyes in return. "Why else would he press his lips against yours?"

"Well that's a natural reaction of every human being whenever they see the Dono _man_  drenching wet." Clyde shrugs, as though he's stating a scientific fact in which Kenny begins to wonder just how huge the brunet's ego is. "I mean, I am pretty hot if I do say so myself and people just can't keep their hands off of me. I'd tone down my hotness but I just don't know how." A chuckle slips out of Clyde's lips, indicating that he's not really serious about what he just said while Kenny just scoffs at him and lightly pushes his shoulder.

"You're impossible." The blond gives him a one-sided smile. "But seriously though, I don't have any useful advice for you."

Clyde puffs his cheeks in disappointment at this as he switches his attention to the screen of TV, giving him a scene of some chick bawling her eyes out after her douchebag of a boyfriend dumped her. Clyde's surprised that he's even aware of what's happening in the movie when his conversation with Kenny is far more interesting. "Well, what did you do when you had your... err, first kiss with a dude?"

"What did I do?" Kenny lazily drawls, his eyes staring up above the television as he rests his boots back on the coffee table. "I kissed him harder like I've never fucking kissed anyone before because my little jew likes it rough."

"I did not need to know that." Clyde wrinkles his nose in disgust. "And be serious!"

Kenny grins in return before settling his gaze at the brunet. "My first kiss with a guy is in no form similar to yours with Tucker. I had to wait for my relationship with Kyle to last for two months before I get to kiss those soft lips of his. So yeah, Kyle and I were already dating before we even shared our first kiss."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. He likes it slow that way. Not that I'm complaining. Okay, maybe I like to rush things a bit but hey, I should just might as well enjoy what I have. I don't think I can do better than Kyle."

Clyde purses one corner of his lips as he lets out an inward somewhat frustrated sigh. He had actually hoped that Kenny would be able to say something useful after telling him everything but unexpectedly, he's still as confused and troubled as before. He wants to confront Craig but now that he's thinking about it... what the hell would he say? Picturing himself approaching Craig somehow gets him feeling really nervous. Perhaps he doesn't want to know if that kiss means something or not.

If it doesn't mean anything, then maybe they could just shrug it off and forget it ever happened. Though, Clyde doubts he'd ever forget about that.

But if it actually means something...

...Clyde doesn't want to know why his heart is suddenly racing at the thought.

* * *

"And I'll put you in my puppy folder." Craig mutters to himself with his usual stoic look as he drags the video he just downloaded with his cursor and moves it to the new folder, somewhat pleased that he had happened to find one of the cutest puppy videos on Youtube. It's nearly midnight and the boy is positive that he's the only one conscious in the house which is something he's already used to. As he sits there, comfortably bundled in blankets with his laptop on his lap, a small smile of content tugs the corners of his lips as re-watches the video again. Animal videos always make him feel better and he needs them now more than ever- especially after what he just did to Clyde last week.

Remembering it now brings a frown on the boy's lips, his eyes just mindlessly staring at the puppy in his screen. He knows that he can't stay avoiding Clyde forever. In one way or another, what he did is something the two of them should talk about and yet, the raven-haired boy couldn't find it in himself to confront the jock about it. Not only did he somehow reveal his sexuality, but he actually gave away the thought that he likes him.

_**Do I?** _

"Shit." He mumbles under his breath as he closes the video down, not in the mood for it anymore. And just when he's about to call it a day, a soft tap on the window steals his attention. Looking up from the screen of his laptop, he catches sight of an unfamiliar silhouette behind his navy blue curtains. A displeased frown graces his lips as he gets up from his bed, hearing the tapping continue on- as if the person at the other side of the window is getting more impatient than ever.

Finally, Craig pulls his curtains apart and his heart suddenly skips a beat at the sight of a particular figure.

"Open up." Clyde grins sheepishly at him, pointing down at the lock of the window.

 


	4. Their Agreement

The precipitous scowl that graces Craig's lips is a definite indication of his displeasure at the sight of his friend standing just before him with the window being the only barrier in preventing the two of them from getting any closer. He hesitates whether or not he should actually let the brunet in. It has been  _years_  since Clyde had last visited him this way and as much as Craig has been hoping for this to happen- with the current predicament they're in- he doesn't think this is exactly the right time to be rejoicing over the fact that Clyde had done what he used to do when they were younger. The jock still maintains his sheepish smile and Craig knows that he couldn't just let him freeze out there. With a heavy sigh, he reaches down and unlocks his window.

"I thought you were going to leave me out here." Clyde grins at him as Craig steps aside to let him take a step into his room.

"What are you doing here?" The taller of the two impatiently goes straight to the point whilst he crosses his arms over his chest, the scowl still evident on his pale facial lineaments. Clyde gives him a surprised befuddled look before nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders and taking a good look of his room.

"Just decided to pay my friend a visit." He states and Craig tries his best not to cringe at how he referred to him. "Is there a problem with that?"

Why couldn't he just go straight to the point? Craig is never one for small talks; especially with the person who he had just one of the most uncomfortable scenes with. He's quite aware of how Clyde had been trying to confront him about what happened but Craig had been successfully avoiding him... until now. He has to inwardly admit though, it is quite clever for Clyde to climb the tree near his bedroom window and visit him in the middle of the night where the taller boy absolutely has no way of lying himself out.

"Clyde, go home." He finally sighs, going over to his bed and shutting his laptop down. "If you have no particular intention here, then don't waste my time."

"Wow, that hurts." The brunet pouts at him, lazily taking a seat on the dark-haired boy's bed as if he's done that a lot of times lately. Craig gives him a look of disapproval but Clyde remains oblivious as he continues to look around the taller boy's room. "So what are you doing still up in this late of night?" He decides to ask, finally giving the other a glance.

"What do you want?"

"Will you quit being so suspicious?"

"I have every right to be suspicious. We're not even friends so who the hell knows what you're planning on doing?"

Clyde cocks a brow at him, a mixture of disbelief and curiosity composed on his face. "Shouldn't that be my line?"

Craig clenches his teeth at the sound of the other's response, knowing fully well that Clyde is referring to what happened at the school's pool area. He's here to discuss about that. It's obvious. A man with half a brain could easily predict that. However, Craig is not in the mood nor is he ready to confront the brunet about it so he tries to maintain his signature stoic look- trying his best to look unfazed by Clyde's attempt to switch the topic.

"I'm tired. Get out." He places his laptop on his desk before moving to his bed and nudging the shorter boy away. "I'm serious. We have a test tomorrow and-"

"Man, you can't use that lame-ass excuse again like you always do." Clyde frowns back at him as he refuses to move away from his bed. "You know we need to talk about this."

 _ **'Psh, women. They always want to talk.'**_ Craig thinks to himself, not daring to take a seat on his own bed. However, Clyde somehow notices this and smiles at him again before patting on the space beside him. "Come on, man. Let's talk about this." Why is he even acting so casual about the topic? Isn't he at all uncomfortable about what had happened between them? When the taller of the two still refuses to move, Clyde rolls his eyes before kicking his shoes off and crossing his legs over the bed- still giving the other a patient look. Craig sighs, knowing fully well that the gestures Clyde had presented to him clearly show that he isn't going anywhere until he gets what he wants.

Mentally cursing himself, the taller boy sits on his bed but keeps a safe distance between them. As difficult as it is for him, he tries settling his azure gaze straight to Clyde's auburn ones.

"What?" He asks, now looking somewhat impatient.

Clyde stares at him for a fleeting moment and Craig somehow notices the light shade of red pooling in the brunet's cheeks in spite of how much Clyde's trying his best to look very casual about their topic. Huh, so he really is uncomfortable but refuses to show it. Amused by this, Craig cocks a brow at him and tilts his head slightly to one side. "Clyde? I'm waiting."

"O-Oh, right." Clyde, as if breaking from a trance, quickly nods his head- the blush in his cheeks getting more evident than ever. "Well... Like I said, we should talk about what happened. At the pool area." Craig remains quiet, as though urging him to go on and for some reason, this just gets the jock looking more flustered. "And... And I just want to know the reason why-"

"-I kissed you?" Craig asks in a sucessfully monotonous tone despite the heavy racing of his heart.

Clyde stiffens at his words and gives him an embarrassed glare. "D-Don't say it like that!"

"What?" Craig frowns at him in confusion. "How else do you want me to say it?"

"I... Well... You... Uh..."

Craig patiently waits for the other to find his words but after realizing that there's no way Clyde would be able to form a proper sentence, he sighs before casually running his fingers through his dark hair. "Do you want to know the reason why I kissed you or not?" He's genuinely surprised at how he's managing to handle this so lightly no matter how much he's freaking out inside. He actually still has no idea why he had kissed Clyde and as he had asked that question, his mind begins to desperately scramble for a decent reason. Any reason that can seem believable to the jock and get him to leave him alone.

"Yes, I-I do." Clyde immediately nods his head, his posture stiff compared to Craig's lethargic one.

Craig looks away for a moment, casually leaning his hands behind him on the bed- successfully maintaining his stoic look. "There were rumors about how much of a good kisser you are." He finally says, sliding his gaze over at his classmate. "I was pretty skeptic about it because...well, you're  _Clyde Donovan_  and you're clumsy as fuck. I couldn't believe it for a minute but since everyone kept on talking about how lucky Bebe is, I wanted to see for myself."

_Silence._

Clyde stares back at Craig's cold gaze, his lips slightly parted in awe before he diverts his stare away from him and down to his lap- his face now an utterly blushing mess. "S-So... that's it?"

"Were you expecting something else?"

Clyde flinches at Craig's response. "Of course not!" He quickly defends himself, looking back at the taller boy who still appears to be very casual about this whole situation. Realizing how unnecessarily loud his tone was, Clyde purses his lips before looking away again. "Well then... umm... now t-that your curiosity has been... fulfilled... what do you think?"

"Huh?"

Clyde nervously looks back at the other, his face embarrassed yet determined as he repeats his question. "What do you  _think_... about the kiss...?"

Craig stares right back at him, pushing away the weird thought about how cute Clyde actually looks when he's embarrassed. He shrugs. "Disappointing, I guess."

"W-What...?!"

"It's disappointing." Craig tries his best not to grin at how astonished Clyde appears to be after hearing his answer. It's true that Craig had heard from people about how Clyde's a good kisser so he's positively sure his response is something the brunet has never heard before. Craig's actually surprised at how good he is at lying and figures that he should do it more often. "But I'm not surprised." He goes on. "I wasn't expecting much considering I know you well enough to know that you're still that dorky chubby kid back in fourth grade."

"Can you please never mention my baby fat ever again?" A serious frown pinches the brunet's brows, his cheeks still heating up. "My childhood is something I want to entirely forget."

Something pinches in Craig's chest after hearing those words and he frowns back at him. He doesn't want Clyde to know that his words bother him so he just shakes his head. "Whatever. I'm going to bed. Show yourself out."

Clyde sighs, appearing to be unsatisfied by the results of their conversation as he finally gets up from the bed. "I know you're only trying to piss me off." He says once he's standing on his feet, looking down at Craig who's already comfortably settled on his bed.

"Hmm?" Craig gives him a befuddled look but Clyde refuses to say anything else as he rests one knee on the bed, his expression strangely serious though his cheeks are still flushed with the shade of red. Craig doesn't move from his spot, as though curious as to what the brunet is about to do. Clyde appears to be hesitant but he moves closer to the taller boy, leaning over him and resting his palms on each side of his companion. Craig's heart skips a beat at the gesture, his body stiffening up while his eyes continue to watch the brunet. Clyde looks so nervous yet determined at the same time and before Craig could even predict it, he leans down and captures his lips with his.

Craig finds himself holding his breath at the unexpected movement as his eyes stare straight to Clyde's closed ones. Not giving the taller boy a chance to process what just happened, Clyde slips his tongue into his mouth swiftly. Craig, who is not at all processing what is going on his mind, finally closes his eyes before he softly tangles his long pale fingers through Clyde's auburn locks and sighs against him- somewhat eagerly kissing him back. Clyde completely towers over him and settles himself between the other's legs, their tongues hungrily tangling around each other. Craig softly lets out a breath of moan upon feeling Clyde's fingertips softly tracing his side under his shirt, granting him a shiver down his spine. Clyde then breaks the kiss for a breath of air but Craig could only grow desperate for he pulls the brunet back to another heated kiss, his hand gripping the boy's auburn locks while the other grips the front of his shirt.

He feels Clyde smile against the kiss but he pays no attention to it as the locking of their lips gets more heated and passionate. Craig could already feel the familiar heat rushing south and he thoughtlessly bucks his hips up against Clyde. But the moment he did so, the jock flinches before quickly breaking the kiss and pulling away. Craig opens his eyes and looks up at the other male, his dazed azure hues staring right back at Clyde with his lips slightly parted for short heavy breaths. Clyde looks somewhat more flustered than he is; his face utterly flushed and his lips also parted for breaths. He wipes his lips with the back of his hand before standing up from the bed, still in the midst of catching his breath.

After a second or so, he looks at Craig and offers him his signature boyish grin.

"Not so disappointing now, huh?" He asks, the flustered look that was previously composed on his face is replaced by a smug one. Craig furrows his brows in confusion but Clyde decides not to wait for a response as he makes his way for the window. As soon as the brunet is no longer in sight, Craig drops himself back on the bed and stares up at the ceiling- completely confused.

_Clyde... you fucking asshole._

* * *

"C-Craig!"

"Whoa...!" Craig nearly jumps in surprise the very second a familiar twitchy blond jumps out of the bushes with an armful of textbooks. "What the hell, Tweek? Have you been waiting for me to pass by to specifically scare the shit out of me?" This is new. Usually, Tweek would wait for him by the entrance of the school building.

"Sorry..." Tweek clears his throat before pushing one textbook to his friend's hand. "I-I have been... ngh... working on my homework all night last night... and I don't know if I got it right s-so please re-check it! Oh god, I don't think I can handle our teacher's glare of immense rejection if she sees how pathetic my work is!" Craig doesn't respond to his friend's concerns as he takes the textbook and lazily shoves it into his backpack.

"I'll check it out later." He slings his bag over his shoulder once again as they begin setting out for their homeroom class. "We've got all the time we need."

"Are you sure...?! H-How are you sure...?!"

"Tweek, listen-"

"Hey Tucker!" Craig fails to finish his sentence as soon as a familiar voice interrupts him and before he and Tweek could even turn to see who the newcomer is, an arm is suddenly heavily slung over Craig's shoulders and a scowl graces the tall boy's features upon being apprised of the sight of a grinning Kenny. Kenny doesn't seem to be fazed by the hardly welcoming glance. "So, did you get a good rest last night?" At the sound of the question, images of that one particular scenario with Clyde that happened last night overcasts the blue-eyed teen's mind and with that, he gives Kenny a look of genuine suspicion- unintentionally disregarding Tweek's presence.

"Why?" That grin plastered on Kenny's face looks far too knowing.

"Just asking, really." Kenny chuckles with a shrug. "I mean, something interesting might have happened to you last night and I just wanna know what that was."

"Have you ever thought of minding your own business?"

"Nah, not really."

Thoroughly annoyed, Craig shrugs the blond's arm off of his shoulder with a grunt though Kenny could only respond to that gesture with a laugh- both unaware of how out of place Tweek is feeling at this point as they finally step into their classroom. Considering there are only a few minutes left before their homeroom teacher enters, the room is already packed by loud chattering students. And as expected, Craig catches sight of Clyde along with Bebe, Wendy and Stan, laughing at the far back of the room. Just when Craig is supposed to avert his gaze away, his cerulean hues connect with Clyde's auburn ones and the next scene that followed after that nearly sends a racing beat to his heart:

_Clyde has smiled at him._

"C-Craig...!" Tweek's voice steals his attention away and Craig immediately diverts his focal point on the twitching blond who's tugging the cuff of his sleeve. "N-Ngh... Can we... Can we check my homework now...?"

Craig sighs. "Fine." As he lets his friend tug him to their desks, he shoots a glance over at Clyde's direction again only to see the brunet already focused back on his friends with his back turned to him.

And with that, the rest of the school day is spent without a single interaction between the two of them. Glances are exchanged but other than that, Clyde never approached Craig and vice versa. Craig never really expected him to in the first place but that doesn't change the fact that he had  _hoped_  for something to change between them. And for a brief moment, he had assumed that the smile the brunet offered to him earlier wasn't really directed at him but at someone else.

Until now, of course.

"Hey, you have a visitor."

Craig looks up from the screen of his laptop the second he heard his sister's voice at the other side of the door. A frown graces his lips at the thought of having a visitor personally for him as he glances down to the clock on his screen. 8 PM. Who the hell would visit him at this time of night? A knock on the door breaks into his pondering and before he could allow the newcomer to enter, the door is unexpectedly pushed open to reveal a certain grinning brunet.

"Clyde?" Craig fails to conceal the somewhat astonished look that blossomed on his pale features. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I consider that a rhetorical question because, why not?" Clyde chuckles as he shuts the door behind him before making his way towards the other male who refuses to move from his position on the bed.

Craig offers him an incredulous look. What is this guy up to this time? The last time he checked, they're still not technically friends even after what happened last night- although, he absolutely has no idea why he even expected to earn some kind of friendship out of that. As Clyde settles down on the bed beside him while kicking his shoes off, the taller of the two resumes his focus back on the screen of his laptop. "What do you want, Clyde? Just get on with it." He doesn't even have to look to know that Clyde is rolling his eyes in response.

"Well, aren't you too suspicious of me?" The brunet scoots closer to which Craig shifts a bit away from him, his cerulean hues still concentrated on his blog. "At this point, I thought you'd be  _thrilled_  to see me after I graced you with my presence last night."

"Wow. You are certainly way over your head."

"What was that? Did you just say you want to give me head?"

Clyde laughs at the sudden hurling of a pillow at his direction given by no other than the somewhat ill-tempered Craig Tucker. He grabs the pillow and wraps his arms around it instead as he watches his companion barely spare him a glance from his laptop. "Say Craig, what do you do for fun nowadays? I mean, we've barely hung out lately so I'm assuming your interests have changed."

"Hm."

Clyde frowns before reaching to close his companion's laptop. But that only earns him a scowl of disapproval from the other.

_"Clyde."_

_"Craig."_

A glaring battle has been initiated at this point but Craig knows better than to insist Clyde to leave his room. That kind of attempt had already been proven futile last time after all. "Fine.  _This_  is what I do for fun nowadays." As if to emphasize his point, he opens his laptop and directs his attention back on it again. "And nothing else. This is hardly your interest, right? So I suggest you just leave now before you perish from sheer boredom."

"Hah! You think you can get rid of me that easily?" A mischievous half-smile curls one side of Clyde's mouth- like the smile of someone who has recently made a terrible prank call and after Craig had offered him a glance, the older of the two knows for a fact that his visitor is up to no good. Given how insisting him to leave doesn't seem to work, he fixes upon ignoring him. Perhaps that will frustrate Clyde enough to leave, hopefully. However, the brunet just moves closer to his side to give the screen of his laptop a peek.

"Guinea pigs? You're still into that?"

"..."

"Guinea pigs with hats... Haha, that's pretty funny."

"..."

"Oh wait, don't click the next page yet! I haven't seen-"

"Too late."

"..." Clyde grants him a look of suspicion. "...you're trying to annoy me, aren't you? To get me to leave?"

"..."

"Fine." Craig nearly releases a sigh of relief at the sound of his classmate's response, assuming that he had finally given up...  _until the laptop is snatched away from his grip._  Before he could snag the opportunity to protest, Clyde is already on his feet, walking over to the desk to carefully place the laptop on it. Just what is this guy up to? Doesn't he have friends to bother? Why is Clyde Donovan, an immensely sought-after jock who is always the center of everyone's attention,  _this_  desperate for his attention? For  _Craig Tucker's_  attention- that one pale dude who refuses to make eye contact with anyone while walking down the hallway and prefers to spend his day blogging about his interests than going out with his peers? Their differences are so notable, they shouldn't even be in the same room together. The very idea of the two of them being best friends before could even be brought up as a ridiculous joke, if anything. Craig glares at the jock as he watches him saunter back to the bed.

"I will ask you again," He begins with his patience running thin. "what do you want, Clyde? Why do you suddenly want my attention?"

Clyde appears to be unfazed by his glare as he sits down in front of the other male with his legs criss-crossed. A look of determination breezes in on his slightly tanned semblance but Craig notices the very light tinge of blush forming in his cheeks. His curiosity is piqued at this extent.

"I want to do it again." Clyde's voice is surprisingly firm that a long pause is given during which Craig takes in his words.

"Do what?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Are you fucking with me?" A tired sigh slips past Craig's lips as he tilts his head down and runs his fingers through his messy dark locks, an attempt to hide the flushing of his cheeks at the sound of Clyde's suggestion. Clyde just continues to grant him from one surprise to another and Craig isn't sure if he's prepared for another one. He did not expect for him to confront him about the pool scene by barging into his room through the window. He did not expect for him to smile at him this morning. He did not expect for him to pay him a spontaneous visit in the middle of the night. And he was most definitely not expecting to hear him request for a round two of their make out session.

"I'm not." Clyde shakes his head. "I'm dead serious. See? This is my serious face."

Craig slightly looks up through his fringes only to be apprised of the sight of his classmate looking at him with a ridiculous look of conviction on his face with cheeks as red as his varsity jacket. Craig couldn't stop the entertained chuckle that escapes his lips. "Clyde, your serious face is really pathetic and you have a  _girlfriend_. If you want to make out with someone, why can't you just go to Bebe? Isn't that what normal couples do?"

Clyde opens his mouth to protest but no words came out. He looks somewhat hesitant, his eyes focused down on his lap but seemingly lost in thought. It really doesn't make sense that Clyde would ask for someone- not his girlfriend- to make out with him. And the fact that that someone is hardly noticed by anyone in their class makes the very image of it more ridiculous.

"This is different." The jock breaks the reticence at long last. "I-I mean, yeah sure, I can go to Bebe but... this is different."

Craig cocks a brow. "How so?"

"W-Well..." Clyde looks off to side while he fiddles with his fingers like a small nervous child being interrogated whether or not he stole a cookie from the cookie jar. "...Bebe is... and you're..."

_"A guy?"_

Clyde stiffens at the word and Craig narrows his eyes at him. "So," the taller of the two brings his knee up to rest his arm on it in a rather nonchalant manner. "you're saying I'm the first guy you ever kissed and you want to cheat on Bebe with me? Because I don't-"

"I-I don't want to cheat on Bebe!" Clyde rushes in to his own defense. "This... This isn't cheating at all...! It's more like... an experiment. You seem to be... into guys after all."

"That's a nice observation, Sherlock. Did the fact that the two of us kissed twice give it away?"

"Craig..." Clyde frowns though Craig deems it as an endearing childish pout.

Since Clyde doesn't it consider it as 'cheating on Bebe', the dark-haired teen considers the suggestion. Clyde isn't particularly a bad kisser though Craig's never really kissed anyone before so he doesn't have anyone to compare him to. Now that he thought about it, Clyde's his first kiss... which he totally shouldn't care about because that's just fucking lame. But doing this all of a sudden seems to be an odd jump for their relationship. From childhood best friends to classmates to strangers then to make-out partners? Is that even considered normal?

As though noticing the look of doubt on Craig's face, Clyde clears his throat. "And you know, Craig... You're not exactly a good kisser.'

Craig whips his attention back on the other. " _What?_  Then what the hell makes you think I'd agree to your idea if you-"

"But I can teach you." Clyde quickly cuts him off. "Instead of considering this as a way of cheating on Bebe- which is seriously not, by the way- consider it as private lessons. You know, just in case you meet someone you actually like. At least when the time comes, you'll be more prepared, yeah?" Craig stares at him for a moment. He knows Clyde is just making up an excuse so as to avert his attention from the idea of being that one person who might ruin a couple's supposedly strong relationship. Fortunately for Clyde, Craig takes the reason as a good enough reason.

_Fuck it._

"All right. Good enough for me."


	5. Their Second Thoughts

The room is nearly brimming with silence saved for the lewd sounds coming from between the pairs of lips of two hormonal teens that can be seen on the bed. Craig is the one towering over Clyde this time as his hand ghosts its way up to the brunet's hip, giving it a soft squeeze and earning a soft moan and a squirm from the other. The dark-haired male couldn't help but smirk against their kiss at this, already getting the knack of Clyde's weak spots at this point. It has passed into a habitual pace for the two boys. After their mutual compliance in regards to Clyde granting Craig 'lessons' in kissing, Clyde has more often than not paid the swimmer a visit every night at the hour of mutual agreement. He will always make sure to send Craig a text message first just in case tonight is particularly a bad time but Craig has been giving him nothing but the nod so far. And as for their interactions at school, nothing has improved at all but both boys have expected that. Clyde stills remains within his respective circle of friends while Craig continues to keep to himself and Tweek but the glances he gives Clyde and vice versa are always left unmissed.

However, considering the fact that they've actually been doing this behind Bebe's back, Craig had thought of stopping this at one point. Hell, he had even rehearsed a couple of times on what to say to Clyde before the jock could get to his room that night. Unfortunately, all of his intentions were instantly thrown out the window the minute he saw Clyde stepping into his room with his hair slightly dampened from his recent shower- auburn strands still sticking out in a handsome mess with a boyish smile to top the charm off. While it didn't feel right making out with someone who's been dating the head cheerleader for nearly more than four months now, Craig could only push that thought deep within the realms of his mind every time Clyde would so expertly and sometimes eagerly pull him in for a kiss.

Clyde lets out a breath of moan once Craig has decided to break their kiss to trail soft ones down his neck, reminding himself not to leave any marks unless they want the jock's blonde of a girlfriend unleashing her wrath. He hears Clyde murmur something in between breaths but he couldn't exactly pinpoint what he's saying. Planting a peck on the brunet's lips, Craig pulls back a bit to look down at him- taking notice of how cute he looks seeing how disheveled his hair is with an endearing tint of crimson dusting his cheeks.

"Were you saying something?" Craig asks, almost out of breath from their seemingly never ending make out session.

A sloppy smile curls Clyde's lips as he brushes Craig's fringes away from his eyes. "I said you're getting damn good at this."

Craig couldn't resist rolling his eyes at the other male's statement. "Well, we've been doing this for two weeks and a half now. You, of all people, should know that I'm not exactly a slow learner."

"Yada yada yada," Clyde makes a face before tugging Craig closer by the collar of his shirt. "Let's save the chitchat for later, hm? We still have half an hour left before the alarm of my phone goes off."

Craig grimaces at the indication of how these sessions of theirs are neatly scheduled. It seems rather odd now that he's thinking about it. But then again, they're not technically a couple so they most certainly can't just make out whenever they feel like it. In fact, Clyde had made it very clear that they could only do it in Craig's bedroom and nowhere else. Craig had asked before about why couldn't they do it in his room but Clyde had simply brushed his question off, telling him that he has his reasons much to Craig's displeasure. Maybe he has pictures of Bebe everywhere in his room and would feel too fucking guilty to be making out with a dude while seeing her smiling so sweetly at him.

"Alright, princess." Craig mutters before leaning in to press his lips against Clyde's, amused at how Clyde has instinctively opened his mouth to welcome his tongue in. He feels the hand clutching the collar of his shirt tightening its hold and pulling him in closer until their chests are flushed against each other. The movement of Clyde's lips grows daring and desperate, his free hand tangling within Craig's dark locks. Craig continues to trace circles on Clyde's skin under his shirt as he feels the familiar heat rushing south which is nothing but a normal occurrence to him every session. He has never talked to Clyde about this simply because he knows it will put the brunet on an odd spot. Besides, Clyde had literally jerked away from him the first time he had kissed Craig and Craig had bucked his hips against his. He's not entirely sure what's up in Clyde's mind but he could tell it has something to do about questioning his sexuality and apparently, Craig is his little guinea pig for this peculiar experiment of his. Not that Craig ever minded being a guinea pig but he has decided to keep that thought to himself.

Surprisingly though, tonight has proven to be different compared to the other nights they've made out.

Craig's eyes immediately shoot open when Clyde unintentionally- at least he believes it was- thrust his hips up against his, making him aware of the boner that is being restrained within his jeans. Clyde, who appears to have just realized what he did, opens his eyes and hastily pushes the taller male off of him. Craig is caught off-guard so he nearly bounces off the bed if it weren't for his swift reflexes. Clyde sits up in a hasty manner, face completely drowned in the hue of red as his wide astounded eyes remain fixated down on the bed. Craig stares at him for a while, not entirely sure what to say. This is the first time he actually felt Clyde's arousal considering Clyde had never bucked his hips up against his until tonight. In fact, he's starting to think that the brunet has been avoiding that in hopes of not taking their sessions to the next level.

"Uh... do you wanna do something about that?" Craig finally decides to break the silence though it does nothing in helping with Clyde's embarrassment for the shorter male jerks his attention back on him, his face just burning with heated uneasiness.

"W-What?! What do you mean?"

Craig arches a brow at the other's reaction before sighing and running his fingers through his hair. "I mean, if you want, you can jerk off in my bathroom over there. No shame in that, dude. We were making out after all. It's a perfectly logical-"

"Oh God," Clyde cuts him off as he buries his face in his palms. "Don't even start, Craig. Just... don't explain why because I already know why and you pointing it out is just gonna make things even more uncomfortable."

Craig purses his lips and shrugs. "Fine, just do what you gotta do."

Clyde peeks at him through the gaps between his fingers and Craig couldn't help it but find him endearing for doing so. Hesitance laces the jock's face before saying, "W-What about you?"

Craig blinks. "Huh?"

The shorter of the two finally puts his hand down and clears his throat. "I-I mean, you're uh... you're also..."

Oh. So he must have noticed it too when he had pressed his hips up against his. Craig couldn't stop the small smirk that makes it across his lips. "Why? You wanna help me with it?"

"Don't even joke about that!" This is the first time Craig has seen Clyde this embarrassed before and it has got to be the fucking cutest sight he's ever seen. And he has watched a clusterfuck of puppy videos so that's saying something. Craig could only shrug in response at the other's outburst though as he reaches down under his bed to get out the new bottle of lube he had just recently purchased, still sealed in a plastic wrapper. He then tosses it to Clyde's direction who manages to easily catch it with the flawless dexterity of a basketball player.

"There, help yourself." He jerks his thumb towards the direction of his own bathroom. "And don't worry about me. I can take care of my boner after you leave."

Clyde frowns at his companion's bold choice of words as he stands up from the bed with an evident apprehensive flow. Before he could take another step though, he spares Craig a glance. "Um... who do you think about when you... err, jerk off?"

"Tweek."

"Wait- what? Seriously?"

Craig rolls his eyes at how Clyde had failed to catch on the sarcasm that laced his answer. Really, he just gave him a random inaccurate answer just so the brunet could already go to the bathroom and do what he used to do best during his younger teen years. "Can you just fucking jerk off, man? Quit stalling."

Clyde frowns and sticks his tongue out at the dark-haired male before hurrying for the bathroom without sparing him another glance. Craig could only snort in amusement. The guy can act tough as much as he wants, he still looks ridiculously childish to him. Craig looks back down at the bed where Clyde was previously lying on, taking notice of how wrinkled the bed sheets appear to be. Images of what they've been doing for the past few days flash within his mind and he can't still really tell how he feels about this. For one, he genuinely takes delight in Clyde's company even though they rarely exchange any words at all but at the same time, it bugs him to think that he's nothing but the brunet's dirty little secret. There are moments where he'd see Clyde and Bebe getting all mushy in the corridor. Now that he's thought about it, has Clyde ever made out with Bebe ever since they started this thing? If he still does, then that's just downright gross. It's almost as if he's sharing a toothbrush with Bebe and that just brings a cringe down Craig's spine.

He spares a glance at the door to his bathroom before heaving a sigh and standing up to get to his desk in pursuit of picking his laptop up. He should might as well do something to pass the time, right?

However, just when he was about to reach for his laptop, a certain voice coming from the bathroom plunders his attention away. His hand hovers over his laptop, hesitation swirling up within him. He could hear Clyde's voice... his grunts... his moans echoing in the bathroom and while he could tell that the brunet is trying his very best to keep himself quiet, he's not exactly doing a very good job. He moves from his desk and takes careful steps towards the bathroom, leaning in closer to the door to see if he's hearing him right.

"A-Ah... shit..."

Craig catches his breath as the image of Clyde jerking off fills his mind. He leans back against the wall beside the door, blindly staring up ahead and focusing solely on the brunet's voice. He knows that he shouldn't be listening to this, especially since Clyde is evidently thinking of a particular well-endowed blonde while jacking off. Right. He should just grab his laptop and try his very best to distract himself so he could-

"...hahh... fuck..."

Craig leans his head back against the wall, fingers idly reaching down underneath his sweatpants. He shouldn't be doing this. It's fucking messed up to be masturbating at the sound of his classmate's breathy moans from the other room. What'll happen if Clyde catches him? Wait a minute, Craig is never the type to care about the consequences. There is a reason why detention is an ordinary episode to him after all. So with that, he runs his tongue over his lips and tugs his waistband down a bit, pulling his semi-erect dick out. He begins pumping his skin while he keeps his eyes fixated up at the ceiling, letting out a long soft sigh of content at the long awaited touch of his fingers on his cock. Clyde's moans transition to muffled ones, obviously covering his mouth to keep himself quiet but this does nothing more but push Craig in quickening his pace- the mere image of him fucking Clyde in a risky place while pressing his hand on his mouth to keep him quiet nearly sending him over the edge. He lets out a grunt under his breath as he diverts his gaze down to his dick and thumbs over his slit, shooting down a shiver down his spine. Goddammit, Clyde. If you just know what the fuck you've been doing to me.

"Mmf... G-Gah...!"

Clyde's near. He could tell. Craig bites his lip and pumps his skin harder, his chest heaving in hasty breaths while he fixates his gaze on his dick- painfully hard and red. He bucks his hips to meet the movements of his hand as he starts to feel himself getting nearer. Oh fuck, Clyde. He leans his head back against the wall again, slipping his eyes closed and focusing solely on Clyde's voice and the jerking of his hand.

"Ah ah... hah... close... close... ahh fuck, C-Craig...!"

Craig's eyes shoot open and before he could even process the fact that Clyde had called out his name, he jerks his hips up one last time and explodes into his hand- staining his shirt. He lets out a few heavy breaths, slowly stepping out of his high. He runs his fingers through his hair with his clean hand as he stares down at his shirt. What a mess. But that's not something he's entirely concerned about. He glances over at the door again, hearing Clyde still in the midst of catching his breath. Did he really just... cry out his name? Or did he just mishear him? That couldn't be the case considering the fact that Bebe barely sounds like Craig. Then what the fuck is going on then? He just literally listened to Clyde jerking off to the thought of him, not his damn girlfriend. What the hell does that mean? Upon realizing that he's still in a rather messy state, Craig briskly tucks himself in before reaching for a few pieces of tissue from his desk to wipe his hand clean then proceeding to pull his shirt off as swiftly as he could to change to a new one.

However, just as he's in the process of looking for a new shirt from his drawer, he hears the door to the bathroom slowly creaking open. He pays no attention to it as a way to avoid having Clyde see the look of guilt on his face. While Craig knows that keeping a stoic face has always been his field of expertise, Clyde still always ends up reading him no matter how long they've stopped being friends. For some reason though, Clyde doesn't say anything and if he could assume right, the jock is just standing still near the door. Craig chooses not to say anything as he finally pulls out a navy blue shirt and puts it on before turning around to look at the brunet only to find him flinching and looking down on the carpet, still standing near the door just as Craig had assumed. His cheeks are unmistakably flushed and Craig fights back the urge to point out that he has just been jerking off to the thought of him. If he points that out, then Clyde will no doubt realize that he's been listening to him masturbating and that's not exactly the kind of subject you'd want to talk about with your classmate.

"Feelin' better?" The taller of the two once again decides to break the silence that is undeniably tensed but he chooses not to acknowledge it.

"Uh yeah..." Clyde looks distracted, Craig notices. "I think I should get home now. Curfew, you know?"

Craig knows better than to corner him now. Obviously, Clyde needs a lot of time to think about what happened today. He just shrugs his shoulders and nods his head as he focuses on turning his laptop on. "Sure, dude. Say hi to Bebe for me."

He sees Clyde stiffening at the corner of his sight but pretends not to notice it.

"Haha, you know I can't do that." Clyde scratches the back of his neck while making his way towards the window. "I mean, we're still technically 'strangers' at school so it would be totally weird if I tell her that you said hi because then she would be suspicious as to why I know you said hi and she'll start asking questions and you know that I'm not a good liar and I can't think properly under pressure-"

"Dude," Craig glances at his direction with a cocked brow. "you have a curfew. Shut up and just get home before your dad shoots you."

"Right, right." Clyde grants him a sheepish grin before pushing the window open. "See ya."

Craig waits for the brunet to leave before striding over to the window to close and lock it, his dark cerulean hues fixated on Clyde's retreating figure. He leans his forehead against the window, his mind filled with the jock's voice crying out his name.

Really, what the fuck.

"Are you all right, Craig?"

Craig looks at his side after closing his locker, seeing Tweek looking up at him with genuine concern reflecting within the bright emerald flecks of his wide eyes. Does he look troubled to the blond? Or has Tweek already mastered the art of seeing through his walls? Because if that's the case, then fuck, he really needs to step up his game in keeping people out of his damn mind. True to Tweek's speculation though, Craig has been doing nothing but think about what happened yesterday. For fuck's sake, Clyde had cried out his name instead of his girlfriend's in the midst of his orgasm. Plus, Craig had also jerked off to his sounds so he's also not exactly a fucking saint in this predicament either. Surprisingly though, Clyde doesn't seem to be as bothered as he was yesterday when he entered the classroom earlier. He seemed perfectly normal, goofing around with his friends and keeping a possessive arm around Bebe like he always does. Well that's not fucking fair. He's the one who did something so downright immensely baffling that it left Craig thinking about it all night, he should at least be a little troubled too.

"I'm fine." He lies with a sigh. "Just didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Oh..." Tweek bites his lip and fiddles with the strap of his backpack; a habit that Craig knows all too well.

"What is it, Tweek?" He asks as he slings his backpack over his shoulder and nudging the blond to walk with him down the corridor.

"It's nothing!" Tweek shouts out his answer all too abruptly but after garnering attention from the other students passing by, he winces and clears his throat. "I-I mean, it's not nothing. But it's not a big thing either. It's just... I-It's just that... well... I know you're coming over later but s-something came up and I have to go to work earlier than my scheduled shift. You see, t-there's this thing that Harbucks is celebrating and I have to wear this ridiculous costume. I was just thinking that if it's okay with you... w-we could postpone our movie night for tomorrow? I-I mean, if it's not okay with you, then I can always tell my boss that I can't do it today! But I will get double paid for this particular shift but if you want to continue our movie night tonight, then I'm fine with that! I just wanna know how you'd feel because we've never postponed any of our-"

"What's the shop celebrating?" Craig cuts him off, getting a bit irritated at the fact that Tweek had to ask for his permission first. He could just simply say that he needs to postpone their movie night instead of asking him if it's okay with him, reminding him of how Clyde used to do something similar right when they started drifting away from each other. Perhaps that's the sole reason why he had gotten irked in the first place. It's not Tweek, it's that mere memory of how that jock had avoided hanging out with him. But of course, Tweek's different. He's not an asshole- far from it actually so Craig knows that he shouldn't worry too much.

"O-Oh... umm... nothing special...!" Tweek shakes his head, his wild hair swaying with the brisk movement.

Craig throws him a look of suspicion to which causes the blond to flinch and avoid his gaze. But before Craig could further question him, a voice calling his name interrupts him and the two boys halt their steps to look up ahead and see Clyde and Bebe walking over to their direction.

"Here!" Bebe cheerfully hands Craig a familiar blue pen while showing off her perfectly pearl white teeth in a captivating smile. She's clad in her green cheerleading outfit, one hand holding onto a pair of pompoms. "Thanks for lending this to me earlier. I wouldn't have been able to take the test without your help!"

Craig takes the pen in a lethargic manner and shoves it into the pocket of his jacket before shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, sure. No problem." He flickers his gaze to Clyde whose arm is comfortably resting on Bebe's shoulders but Clyde doesn't take notice of his glance. Instead, he looks back down at his girlfriend with a puzzled look adorning his features.

"Wait, you needed a pen earlier? Why didn't you ask me instead?"

Bebe rolls her eyes before granting the brunet a knowing one-sided smirk. "Because knowing you, you would ask for something lewd and naughty in return later."

"Oh, right!" Clyde laughs but Craig has no idea what's so funny. In fact, he finds himself clenching his jaw at Bebe's response.

"O-Oh Jesus," Tweek tugs on his hair. "y-you guys didn't have to put that image in my brain!"

The couple standing before them laugh as Bebe pats Tweek's shoulder. "Don't worry, sweetie. Once you find your special someone, you won't be able to keep your hands off each other." As if to emphasize her point, she glances over at Craig's direction and offers him a tantalizing smirk. "And I have a feeling you won't have to wait long."

Instead of returning her smile with a look of confusion which he should have normally done to avoid suspicion, he just scowls at her direction. What the fuck is she doing implying that he and Tweek will eventually become something more? Does she have any idea that setting such an expectation on Tweek will pressure the blond into doing it? Unfortunately, Bebe doesn't seem to take the hint as she giggles again and gives him a wink. He could vaguely hear Tweek muttering something incoherent to himself though Craig is more than certain it has something to do about being pressured into doing this or that.

"Well, I'm off to practice." The cheerleader beams at them. Craig has no idea why she's telling them this. She then faces Clyde- who has just been watching all this with an amused smile on his face- before leaning up on the tips of her toes to plant a soft peck on his lips. "I'll see you tonight, yes?" The glimmer of excitement that had flashed within her blue orbs did not escape Craig's notice.

"Yeah, of course." Clyde grins down at her.

"Great! I should go now then! Love you!"

Craig holds his breath, not even knowing why he's still standing here and watching this. He stares at Clyde, not even knowing what he wants him to say. Have these two already gone that far to the point that they've been saying those words to each other more often than not? Then why the hell has Clyde been sneaking around just to make out with him? What's the whole point of that? He knows that regarding it as 'kissing lessons' is just total bullshit but the fact that Clyde had jerked off to the thought of him says something. He's not sure what but it has to be something, right? Fuck, what is he even hoping for? He shouldn't be thinking about this too much. This is all just a clusterfuck of a mess. Maybe what happened yesterday was just a one-time thing. Maybe Clyde just got carried away with their session yesterday which explains why he had thought of Craig instead of Bebe.

"...Love you too." Clyde returns Bebe's smile before giving her another last peck on the lips.

Craig clenches his fist and Bebe finally takes her leave.

"Well," Clyde stretches his arms with a contented sigh, giving each of the two a quick glance. "I should get going too. I promised Dad I'd help him repair the car. See you guys around!" He waves to the two boys before also taking his leave.

Tweek shakes a bit beside Craig but doesn't say anything, waiting for Craig to take the first step so that they could walk in sync together. Craig doesn't pay attention at this for a moment though, his mind still filled with the thought of Clyde and how much the jock has been messing up with his head. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Clyde's doing this on purpose just so he could tell people how he easily convinced Craig to make out with him- that Craig is most likely head over heels for him. Bebe could be into it too, encouraging her boyfriend to do so for her own amusement. You can never know, that girl can be into sick shit. Perhaps they have the motive of telling everyone how much of an easy lay he is which probably wouldn't even be too much of a lie seeing how he had easily complied with Clyde's suggestion of their so-called kissing lessons. Realizing that he's getting too paranoid for his own taste, Craig clicks his tongue in annoyance before finally heading for the exit of the school building with Tweek tailing behind him.

"A-Are you and Clyde friends again?"

Craig frowns and merely shrugs his shoulders.

Tweek doesn't seem too impressed with his answer as he chews his bottom lip before pushing on. "...he isn't taunting you anymore..."

"Am I supposed to thank him that he's decided to be a decent human being?" Craig fails to conceal the tone of annoyance that laced his words and immediately regrets it because he finds Tweek flinching violently again.

"I-I...! I didn't mean it like that! It's not that you owe him for treating you nicely now and all. I just thought that you two are friends again and I... I guess that would be nice." Craig takes notice of how there was a tinge of something in Tweek's words, as though there is more to it than he had let on. However, he decides not to question it for now. He already has a lot in his mind at the moment and even though it probably isn't right not to ask if there's something in the little blond's mind, he's just not really in the mood for drama.

"I sure would like to lick that toned stomach of yours~"

Clyde rolls his eyes before tugging his shirt down after realizing that it had been pulled up when he reached up to emend the mechanism of his dad's car, not even bothering to slide down the skateboard he's lying on right now to know who just walked into their opened garage.

"I'm busy, Ken." He says with what he hoped was a tone serious enough for the blond to get the message that he's in no mood to have a distraction.

"We're just here to chat."

We? Clyde furrows his brows before finally deciding to slide the skateboard down to see the newcomers. "Oh. Well, I don't mind Kyle's company. Kenny, show yourself out." He sits up and wipes the bead of sweat that trails down his temple, ignoring the laugh of amusement that escapes the blond's lips.

Kyle leans back against the door to the passenger seat and crosses his arms. "You should know by now that there's nothing you can do to get Kenny to leave you alone. God knows how muh I tried before." Clyde could only snort in response, recalling how long Kenny had pursued Kyle who before seemed to be genuinely uninterested in getting in a relationship with the poorest kid in town. Though he's certain that his reason had nothing to do with the income of Kenny's family but more with the fact that he wasn't into the idea of dating a childhood friend. Apparently, Kenny had gotten through him and it sure was the talk of the school- especially since Kenny couldn't keep his hands off the redhead in the hallway. "Anyway," Kyle goes on. "how are you holding up?"

Clyde stands up from the skateboard and cocks a brow at his direction. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Kenny walks over to the toolbox settled on the shelf nearby, inspecting every instrument. "Ya know," he clarifies with a lazy wave of his hand. "you and Craig."

Of course Kenny told Kyle about the kiss in the pool. Why wouldn't he? He sighs as he cleans his hand with a rag before tossing it over to the nearest shelf. He doesn't even bother to question why the two are so concerned over him since it's not much of a surprise at all. They did show great support when his mom passed away after all. "Same old boring shit, I guess." He grabs for his bottled water before taking two chugs from it, somehow feeling the stares of the two boring into him.

"Hm." Kyle hums in the most unimpressed manner. "Something happened after that."

Clyde winces but shakes his head after settling the bottle down. He then offers a good-natured smile to the redhead though it had only proven to be sheepish. "W-Wha-? What could possibly happen after that?"

Kenny laughs. "Oh man! You're such a terrible liar, dude. Quit going around in circles and tell us what happened. Maybe we can help."

Clyde could very much tell that his face is heating up at this point and he doesn't even have to ask to know that the couple has also caught on it. He really is never a good liar even when he was a little kid. But how could he possibly tell these two what happened last night? It is true that they're not the type to spread shit around school but it's the humiliation of having to relive the memory is what he's mostly concerned about. Why he had suddenly thought of Craig while jerking off is beyond him. Never in his life had he thought of the guy in that way before, not even when they were the best of friends. Hell, he never even had that kind of thought on any guy so why Craig of all people? Oh gee, maybe it's because he's a fucking good kisser? A small part of him snorts in derision. Kissing lessons? If anything, he's the one teaching you how to move your tongue. Clyde shakes those thoughts off before clearing his throat, remembering that his two friends are waiting for his answer.

He sighs and scratches the back of his neck. "All right, all right. But don't tell-"

"Dude," Kyle rolls his eyes. "you don't have to tell us that. You know we're not ones to gossip."

Clyde takes comfort in that and nods, picking up the bottle again and fiddling with it in an attempt to distract himself from looking at the two. "We kinda... made out."

Silence.

Clyde wants to look up to see their reactions but at the same time, he's not entirely sure what to expect. A look of disgusted judgment? Attempts of not laughing out loud? Either way, it wouldn't exactly be a good thing on his part. He just keeps himself focused on the bottle in his hands, finding it more interesting than the words he just blurted out to possibly the only two people he trusts in school.

"How many times?" Kenny suddenly breaks the silence and earning a glance from the brunet. The knowing look that gleamed within his cerulean hues nearly made Clyde flinch in fear. Kenny obviously knows something more than what he just said but is just waiting for him to admit it. Lying will get him nowhere.

"A couple of times."

"I knew it." Kenny snaps his fingers with a grin as he saunters over to where his boyfriend stood. "What did I say, yeah?"

Kyle frowns at him. "Ken, this isn't really the time for you to be gloating about that."

"Stiiiill," the blond teases as he settles his hands on the shorter boy's hips and steps closer. "I've always wanted to say 'I told you so' to you for once instead of vice versa so let me have the chance for once~"

Clyde blinks confusedly. "Uh... what's happening... exactly?"

Kyle diverts his emerald gaze away from his boyfriend to look at the brunet. "Kenny had caught you sneaking into Craig's room every now and then. He says that you two were obviously doing something lewd but I disagreed. I kinda thought you two were just... I dunno, discussing about the problematic matters that ensued between you two."

"And this is why you bottom, my cute naive kosher boy." Kenny sticks his tongue out at the redhead before earning a hard pinch on the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

Kyle sighs and tears himself away from the blond's grip before making his way towards their friend. "Look, Clyde. I understand how messed up the circumstances are but... have you ever even thought of putting a stop to this? I mean, for fuck's sake, you're still dating Bebe and you can't keep you hands off of her in school. You're technically cheating on her."

"Yeah and have you seen the way Craig looks at you every time you pull your girlfriend in for a kiss?" Kenny joins his boyfriend's side, crossing his arms behind his head. "That's not really fair to him."

"What?" Clyde shoots an incredulous look at their direction. "He gets to make out with The Donovan. That's not unfair. That's pretty much a miracle to him."

"Oh my God," Kyle rolls his eyes. "do you hear yourself? Look dude, why are you even doing this in the first place? Is Bebe not enough?"

"That's-"

"Isn't she good in the sack?" Kenny cuts him off with a tilt of his head. "Is she too loud? Too whiny? Does she use teeth? Does she call you her fuckboy? Does she suddenly sing in the brink of orgasm?"

"Oh God, no!" Clyde wrinkles his nose in disgust, not even knowing where Kenny got those images. "It's not Bebe...! I mean, I... I can't even tell because we haven't been doing it since..."

"Since you and Craig started hooking up." Kyle finishes for him but then he pauses and adds, "behind Bebe's back."

"You two haven't done anything more than just swapping saliva, right?" Kenny questions.

"No." Clyde shakes his head with a sigh. "And I don't intend to. Look, I don't really understand what's going on, okay? It happened and I just... went with it. It doesn't really make much sense to me either but I'm stuck. I don't want to break things with Bebe because I still really like her but at the same time, I really don't want to stop what Craig and I have been doing for the past few weeks."

"Maybe it's the thrill." Kyle crosses his arms and taps his chin in thought. "Perhaps that's what's missing in your relationship with Bebe. You're getting tired of the same boring shit and Craig happens to be there in the right time to give you that desired thrill. Sneaking around and such, I guess that excites you." Clyde stares at him for a moment as he registers his words. Is that it? Could that really be the reason why he had always looked forward to sneaking into Craig's room? The possibility of getting caught is exciting at times, he had to admit that. Maybe it's not Craig but the mere idea of sneaking around. He could probably do this with any other person and he would get the same results. Somehow, that gives him a tinge of relief. At least now he doesn't have to wonder why Craig popped into his mind when he was jerking off. God knows how hard he tried to play it cool after that. Maybe he could make things right with Bebe- talk to her about spicing things up. She always likes trying new things, right? She'd be willing to do anything.

"Wait a minute," Kenny chances a glance at Kyle. "are you getting bored of us?"

"Are you kidding me?" Kyle looks back at him with a cocked brow. "You're spontaneous about everything. I wouldn't be surprised if you suddenly wanted to fuck me in the classroom." After realizing that they're not exactly alone, he flinches and sheepishly looks at Clyde who now looks absolutely disturbed at what he just said. "Sorry."

Kenny chuckles and pulls the younger male closer by resting his arm around his shoulders to plant a kiss on his now-tamed fiery red hair. "Can't say that thought never crossed my mind."

"Okay," Clyde says all to loudly as he claps his hands once. "this conversation was very progressive and I thank you two for your help but obviously, I have a car to fix so go do your nasty stuff somewhere else." He brushes past Kenny to head back for his dad's toolbox.

Kenny snickers. "All right, we'll leave now. You gonna be all right?"

Clyde purses his lips but nods. "...yeah."


	6. Their Insecurities

_"What... kind of question is that?" A scowl curled the lips of the 13-year-old Craig as he eyed his friend who seemed rather invested in what he just said, round auburn eyes staring right back at his cold cerulean ones._

_"It's a curious one." Clyde shrugged but Craig could only roll his eyes in annoyance before immersing his concentration back on his textbook, knowing that this conversation was going nowhere. This was one of the things why he didn't like having a fleeting moment of silence with Clyde- the brunet always ended up thinking up of a random topic to discuss about then blurting it out without even a trace of hesitation. This one, in particular, was in no doubt the most peculiarly bizarre topic he had ever thought of and Craig couldn't help but wonder if it's because he's just running out of new material. Maybe **he**  should try to come up with a topic for once but that was never a smooth duty for him. Clyde was the talkative one. He was just the listener and nothing else other than occasional snarky comments._

_"Well I'm not answering it." The taller of the two shook his head but when he felt Clyde move closer to him on his bed, he immediately knew the guy will not let this go._

_"Come on! It's not gay or anything! Don't you ever wonder about the alternate universe?"_

_"A universe where the two of us are romantic partners?" Craig granted his friend a look of annoyed incredulity. "You've seriously been thinking about that?"_

_"No!" Clyde was too quick in denying it but Craig paid no mind to it. "I just... thought of it now. Anyway, come oooonnn. Who do you think would top if we were partners?"_

_Craig sighed as he reached up to rub his eyes with his thumb and his pointer finger. "First of all, we can **never** be partners."_

_Clyde frowned. "Why not?"_

_"Because," The dark-haired teen directed his gaze back at him with an arched brow. "we're best friends. We've known each other since kindergarten which means we know almost everything about each other. There is nothing to learn from the other anymore. I've seen you at your best and at your worst and you've seen mine. When it comes to being in a relationship with someone, you and your partner get to develop your connection and learn things about each other that you've never known about which pretty much adds the thrill to it. If ever we even started dating, it wouldn't last three days. Shit, I don't even think there would be much difference between us. It would be boring. We'll get tired of each other easily and if we did last more than a week, we'll probably just end up getting into a ridiculous fight then break up and the tension will forever live between us."_

_Clyde just stared at his friend with blinking astounded eyes, not entirely certain what to say. As though taking his silence as a gift for finally giving him his peace of mind, Craig directed his attention back on his book. "Now shut up and just read my comic books or-"_

_"I think you're wrong."_

_"Huh?" The taller teen frowned at the _brunet_. "What makes you say so?"_

_A pout formed Clyde's lips while keeping his stare fixated on his friend and Craig knew this look all too well. He was about to get **"Donovized"**  as Clyde would like to call it whenever he would get to veritably correct someone with great accuracy. Clyde shifted closer to his friend with a determined look on his face. "While it's true that some people believe that getting in a relationship with your best friend could risk your friendship, but there's still the possibility of  **enhancing**  it. Like what you said earlier, we've seen each other at our best and at our worst which means there's absolutely no insecurity between us anymore. We're perfectly comfortable with each other and don't have to fear about one of us cheating on the other or get all worked up about whether or not we're good enough for the other. And you're wrong about not learning new stuff from each other. There are some things that best friends don't get to do together that romantic partners can."_

_Craig narrowed his eyes at him, already knowing where this was going. "Clyde, don't even bring it up-"_

_"Sex!" Clyde grinned all too eagerly and Craig found himself scooting away from him without delay just in case he was up to something. Clyde didn't seem to notice though. "We'd get to learn each other's kinks and whatnot! Testing them out and stepping over our comfort zone... that's the thrill of it! And being best friends is a great benefit because we wouldn't even be ashamed of admitting our kinks!"_

_**I can't fucking believe we're actually talking about this,** Craig thought in disbelief._

_"And honestly," Clyde blabbered on. "I think I'd top you."_

_The sudden sense of pride washed over Craig at that as he straightened up and scowled at his friend. " **Excuse me?**  Why do  **you** get to top?"_

_"Well, for one, you're skinnier than me so wouldn't that make you the girl?"_

_"Idiot. The physique has nothing to do with who gets to top and who gets to bottom."_

_"Really?"_

_Craig rolled his eyes. "You'd be bottom, Clyde. Everyone seems to think you got a nice ass anyway. Might as well put it to good use."_

_He caught on the crimson hue that dusted Clyde's cheeks and Craig couldn't help but smirk in victory at this. Unfortunately though, Clyde didn't seem to be fond of letting him have the last laugh. With a determined huff, the shorter of the two boys suddenly pinned the dark-haired male down on the bed and earned a yelp of surprise from his friend- his palms digging onto his shoulders and ignoring how Craig's textbook crashed down onto the carpet. He grinned. "Whaddya know, you're the one lying on your back. That makes you the bottom then~"_

_Craig glared at him before making a struggle in an attempt to push the _brunet_ off of him but to no avail. Clyde was most likely stronger than him but Craig was not one to admit that so he attempted to thrash his arms only to have his friend grab his hands and pin them above his head. Goddammit. Craig couldn't help the scowl of utter annoyance that twsited his lips by the mere sight of the pompous look of victory adorning his best friend's features._

_"Well?" Clyde raised an amused brow at him. "Give in?"_

_"If this is your way of showing dominance, then fuck, you're shallow."_

_"All sizzle," Clyde smirked as he leaned down closer to his friend, adjusting his tone to a hushed one. "no steak."_

_"Ugh, whatever. Just get off of me." Craig growled before finally being granted access to freedom. He sighed and sat up, immediately reaching for his hat that had fallen off due to Clyde's spontaneity and settled it back on his head. "Geez, who the hell even cares who would top? It's not like it will actually happen."_

_"Yeah well **you** think of something to talk about." Clyde stuck his tongue out at him and Craig failed to resist the urge to do the same._

_"Just go read some comic books, asshat." The taller teen threw a pillow at his friend's face, grinning when it caught the _brunet_ off-guard and sent him crashing down onto his carpet. "And keep your fantasies to yourself, faggot."_

* * *

"You're home early."

Craig straightens up from the fridge as soon as he got himself a can of soda before looking over to the side to see Ruby leaning her shoulder against the door frame and munching on a candy bar. She eyes him with her signature disinterested look on her face and takes another bite of her snack before asking, "Aren't you supposed to be at your boyfriend's place for your night of lovemaking or something?"

Correcting Ruby about Tweek not being his boyfriend has already ran its course at this point. It's getting pretty useless after all since the girl is just as tenacious as he is. He shrugs his shoulders before brushing past her to head straight for the living room, hoping that there's something compelling enough to watch on TV. He needs something to get his mind off Clyde and since Tweek won't be there to be his sole distraction, he figures that a crappy sitcom will do the trick. He knows that he really shouldn't be thinking of Clyde anymore, especially since the guy doesn't seem to be at all affected by what happened yesterday. The jock's behavior earlier has done nothing but make Craig feel pathetic- as if he's getting worked up over nothing. He needs to brush it off as soon as possible before Clyde gets here tonight unless he wants his pride further damaged by letting that asshole discover that he's been eavesdropping on his masturbation.

"You two fightin'?" Ruby joins him on the couch and leans back against the armrest, bringing her skinny legs up to rest them on her brother's lap. "Because you should know, I'm gonna have to beat your ass if you make Tweek cry. He gives me free coffee at Harbucks."

"We're not having our movie night because he's expected to attend an hour early before his shift." Craig reaches for the remote to turn the TV on. "He said that the shop is celebrating something or I dunno."

"What are they celebrating?" Ruby cocks a brow at him but Craig just shrugs.

"I dunno. He won't tell me."

"Hmm... doesn't that seem suspicious to you?"

Craig sighs and leans back against the sofa, taking a sip from his soda then giving his sister another shrug of a response. Ruby doesn't seem to be too happy with his answer though for she kicks him on the hip for that, eliciting a glare from the older Tucker. "Craig, you should probably go and check what he's up to. You never know, he might be cheating on you. Why else wouldn't he expound on his plans today?" Is this kid seriously still assuming that he's dating Tweek after the great number of denials he had already given her? Again, correcting her is truly getting pointless so Craig fixates his gaze back on the television.

"Tweek can't cheat. He's too disorganized."

"You can go ahead and try to convince yourself as much as you like." Ruby finally steps off the couch to head back to her room. "But if I were you, I'd investigate it." And with that, she takes her leave at long last but not before smirking upon catching sight of the look of deep hesitance playing on her brother's features. Craig sighs and runs his fingers through his hair, trying his very best to let the show playing in front of him occupy his thoughts. What the hell is it about? Two waitresses being broke or something? Goddammit, he couldn't catch up. Not when the dilemma Clyde had established keeps swirling within the realms of his mind and now his concern over what Tweek is up to is adding onto his list of shaken thoughts. Why the hell wouldn't Tweek just tell him what the shop is celebrating? What could he possibly be hiding?  _Thanks a fucking lot, Ruby._  With a tired sigh, Craig gets up from the couch and heads straight for the door.

As soon as he pulls the door open though, he chances upon Karen whose hand is already raised in pursuit of ringing the doorbell. However, as soon as their eyes meet, she drops her hand back down to her side all too quickly and averts her gaze down to the ground.

"H-Hi, Craig... Is... Is Ruby home?"

"Yeah, she's in her room." Craig doesn't spare her another glance as he brushes past her, not taking notice of how the young brunet watched his retreating figure. He couldn't help but worry over whether or not Tweek lied to him about his plans today. Maybe he has gotten himself in trouble in a way and is intent on taking care of it today, resulting to him coming up with an excuse to not continue their movie night. The thought of the blond not wanting Craig to get involved in whatever shenanigans he got involved in seems like the kind of thing he'd do after all. Nevertheless, the mere thought of it irks Craig. Aren't they supposed to be friends? If Tweek needed help, he would have said so instead of just hiding it from him unless...

...his life is on the line. Perhaps he owes someone dangerous a large sum of money and is looking for ways to pay it. Why else wouldn't he want Craig involved, right? It really does seem logical the more he-

"The fuck?" A frown furrows the brows of the dark-haired male the very second he has finally neared his destination, spotting Tweek serving the shop's customers in a mint green maid dress. He almost didn't recognize him with the long blonde wig settled neatly over his usually unkempt hair, golden locks falling elegantly over his shoulders. But seeing him twitch every now and then has determined that he truly is the coffee fanatic that he knows. Now this is certainly odd. Why the hell is he dressed like that? Carefully, Craig saunters closer to the shop and takes notice of the chalkboard stand displayed outside near the entrance.

"Happy International Transgender Day of Visibility?" Craig reads in puzzlement. He didn't even know there is such a day. He chances another glance at the window of the shop only to realize that all the waiters are indeed dressed in different women's clothing while the waitresses wear the exact opposite. He fixates his gaze back on Tweek who's just in the midst of giving a customer three packets of sugar as requested before their eyes meet. His bright jade eyes widen in utter horror and Craig couldn't stop himself from granting him a one-sided smirk and a casual salute. He doesn't waste any more time and steps into the shop, amused at how Tweek stays frigid on his spot- evidently lost as to what to do.

"C-Craig...! You're not supposed to be here...!" The blond finally squeaks out, hiding the latter part of his face with his notepad.

Craig looks down at him with an amused smirk, his hands digging into the pockets of his jacket. "Why? Are you taking away my right to be here, Tweek? Besides, I didn't think you'd be into this kind of stuff." He teases, reaching to twirl a golden lock of Tweek's wig around his finger.

As though only realizing that his friend has come to ridicule him, Tweek narrows his eyes at the taller male before swatting his hand away with a cute pout forming on his- wait,  _are his lips painted with gloss?_  "Dressing up like this is already b-bad enough. I don't need you making fun of me too, Craig." He twitches a bit in between words.

"Hey now, I'm here to make you feel pretty, Goldilocks." Craig chuckles before giving Tweek's cheek a soft pinch. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be nice to your customers?"

Tweek's round cheeks are heated with humiliation at this point as he engages himself in a staring battle with his all too-amused friend. He's going to make Craig pay for this. With a defeated huff, the notably shorter male tugs the cuff of Craig's sleeve and pulls him to an empty booth. "Fine, order something then i-if you want to be acknowledged as a customer."

Craig chuckles again, not even remembering when was the last time he was actually this entertained. Seeing Tweek dressed like a girl with a resentful look embellishing his baby-like features is all too enticing for him. And he's thankful for the fact that the make-up artist didn't even bother to conceal the dark circles under his friend's eyes, still letting the blond display his character in spite of the entire makeover. As he takes a seat, he watches Tweek fumble for his pen from the pocket of his apron- noticing how his skirt reaches just above his knees. Craig cocks a brow at this. "Did you seriously shave your legs for this?"

"A-Argh! I don't wanna talk about it!" Tweek shakes his head frantically and squeezes his eyes shut. "J-Just give me your order, please!"

"Fine, fine." Craig lets out a laugh again then directs his attention on the menu that has already been prepared on the table. "Get me two cups of caffe medici."

Tweek blinks before bringing up his middle and pointer fingers. "Two?"

"Yeah. I want you to have a drink with me."

Tweek frowns at this. "I dunno if that's-"

"Just do it. You aim to please your customers anyway."

The blond glares at him in disapproval for a bit before sighing and nodding his head. "F-Fine... I'll ask my manager."

Craig then watches his friend walk away, not even realizing the small one-sided smile still curling his lips as he does so. He has to admit, in spite of it being unmistakably scarce, he sorta feels quite a loss for the snappy returns Tweek used to give him. Back when they were kids, they never got along at all and when they did start to hang out more often, Tweek would always return Craig's rude remarks with glares or sarcastic responses. Now that he has thought about it, he couldn't recall when the blond actually started being really nice to him. Perhaps it happened all too gradually that he had failed to notice it. Nevertheless, he does wish Tweek would behave like this more often. It makes their conversations twice more interesting; not that he finds their interactions dull but still not interesting enough for them to be memorable. Most of theirs topics would always only center around what happened in class and Craig telling Tweek to calm down if he starts freaking out about unintentionally offending him.

He doesn't mind the new Tweek though. Not that he would admit it out loud but Craig finds him cute in a way. He knows that the blond will in no doubt freak out though if he actually tells him that so he had convinced himself to keep that speculation to himself. There are times when he had actually considered asking the blond out in more ways than one but who is he kidding? Craig always deems himself a fucking loser- it'd be a miracle if he actually gets into college. No, he doesn't have a stable future. Nothing is planned out for him simply because his family doesn't give a fuck. He couldn't blame them though. He's told them a thousand times already that he still doesn't have a particular goal in his life and they eventually gave up asking him about it. If he doesn't have a stable future, then it would be an embarrassment to date him and he simply couldn't let Tweek have that even if he wanted to.

A halt is immediately dropped onto his thoughts when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. With a grunt, he fishes it out to find a message from Clyde.

Oh, what joy.

**From: Clyde  
** **Message:  
** **bebe's coming over around 6 sooooo i'll b over by 11, yea? 8)**

Honestly, how can that guy send a text message regarding when to meet up with him for another make out session while thinking about the fact that his girlfriend will be coming over? It almost as if he doesn't have shame at all. No wait, scratch that. Clyde  _does_  have some shame in him. He did it admit before, did he not? Craig scowls at the memory, recalling what happened at Bebe's party where the brunethad coldly told him that it is 'absolutely downright embarrassing to be seen wtih him'. Craig finds himself tightening his hold of his phone, the familiar bitter resentment rising up within him. Right, he's nothing but Clyde's dirty little secret and thinking about it know makes him feel loathsome. What the hell has he been doing? He has thought of this a lot of fucking times already and he still couldn't bring a stop to what they've been doing.  _Clyde is cheating on Bebe with him_  and if that word somehow gets out and circulates around the school, he will end up being the 'whore' of the story. He won't be that guy who doesn't get notice by anybody anymore and he's very much comfortable with that status of his right now so he most certainly doesn't want to get rid of it.

 _I need to stop this before things get out of hand._  And for some reason, he has a feeling that things  _will_  get out of hand soon enough; especially after he realized that Clyde had practically jerked off to the thought of him. That, and the fact that he had also jerked off to his former best friend's sounds.

But then again, breaking things off with Clyde probably wouldn't even be much of a loss on Clyde's part. He still has Bebe. He'll lose his make-out buddy but he still has a girlfriend he could _actually fuck_. And Craig? He'll end up with nothing. He'll resume back to his boring ass life: go to school, chat with Tweek, head back home, update his blog then go to sleep. What a life. Clyde will surely have the last laugh on that one.

 _Damn it._  He can't have that asshole laughing at him in the end. But how the hell is he supposed to avoid that?

"H-Here...!" Tweek arrives with the two cups of caffe medici, obliviously interrupting Craig's train of thoughts. "Boss said I can have- ngh- fifteen minutes."

Craig stares at his friend who has settled himself comfortably on the cushioned seat across from him, innocently looking like the perfect solution to his problem.

_No. Tweek deserves someone better. I can't be fucking selfish._

Tweek blinks upon realizing that the taller teen has just been staring at him. He furrows his brows in concern, fake lashes moving along his blinking emerald eyes and gently brushing his undereyes. "Err, C-Craig...? You okay?"

 _Fuck it._  "I have something to ask you."

* * *

The sound of the doorbell renders the air just as soon as Clyde has stepped out of his bedroom, freshly showered. Who could that be? His dad won't be home until tomorrow morning and he's still expecting Bebe in an hour. Drying his hair with a towel, the jock descends down the stairs and heads for the door; not even bothering to check who it is in spite of his father's lectures before pulling the door open to see his girlfriend beaming at him with a grocery bag grasped in her hand.

"Babe..." Clyde blinks in surprise. "You're... You're here early. What's up?"

Bebe arches a brow at his surprise, a playful smirk twisting her lips. "What, am I not allowed to see my boyfriend earlier than scheduled? Our practice ended early and since your dad won't be home until tomorrow, I figured why not spend an hour early with you?" She steps up to plant a kiss on the boy's lips, her arms instinctively encircling around his neck and smilng against the kiss when Clyde returned it. It is short-lived though for the blonde breaks it and brushes past the brunet, striding over to where the kitchen can be located. "I'm in the mood for some pasta right now so you don't mind me making us some here for dinner, hmm?"

"Yeah, sure." Clyde closes and locks the door before trailing after his girlfriend. "I thought some pizza would be good enough for you but it's good that you decided to be creative today."

Bebe laughs while she starts fishing out the necessary kitchen tools, already familiar with the Donovans' kitchen. Bebe is the only girl Clyde's dad has ever approved of compared to the other girls the jock had dated and Clyde doesn't even have to wonder why. Bebe Stevens is the epitome of perfection- beautiful, smart, funny and open-minded. He recalls how he had dated her before back in the third grade, then again in the fourth grade and she was in no way similar to what she has become now. Perhaps some of Wendy's good traits have rubbed off on her and now, Clyde couldn't even figure out what she sees him. Of course, he's hot. He knows that. But other than that, he couldn't help but have this twinge of insecurity of what she truly thinks of him. He's not exactly the smartest guy in class nor is he the funniest one. Personality wise, he's rather plain. He doesn't have any interesting stories or trivia to share like Kyle does nor can he give her that sense of thrill that Christophe does. Bebe has dated a good number of people who are notably better than him and while they obviously don't have his looks, they still have Bebe's best interests.

Just as he had thought before, he could try and give her that sense of thrill but recalling how she used to date Christophe before, could he really match up to what he had given her? Hell, he even heard that that damn French prick literally saved her from an infamously dangerous gang then had wild sex after. How was he supposed to match up to that?

"-so she got a perm after her friends pressured her to. She looks different but still really cute." Bebe's words cut into the jock's mind and he looks up to see her already working on their dinner. He sighs somewhat dreamily and leans his shoulder on the door frame, just admiring the blonde beauty before him who doesn't seem to mind that she's not getting a response from her boyfriend since she's so invested in her story. Really, what does she see in him?

He flinches in surprise when he suddenly felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, also catching Bebe's attention.

"Hold on." He says as he fishes his phone out to see a message from Craig. He frowns. Craig doesn't normally text him first unless he's decided to postpone their session at a later time. But then again, the guy never really responded to his text earlier.

"Who is it?" Clyde catches on the tinge of suspicion in his girlfriend's voice but then disregards it, far too concerned with what Craig has to say.

"It's just dad. He wants me to check some documents in his office. It sounds important so I should do it right away." He walks to Bebe whose back is turned to him and plants a kiss on her cheek, giving her hip a soft squeeze. "Be back in a minute, babe."

"Take your time~"

Again, what does she see in him?

Turning around, Clyde heads out of the kitchen in pursuit of stepping into his father's office. He turns the light on and closes the door behind him before unlocking his phone once again and checking the message.

**From: Craig  
Message:**   
**lets stop what we're doing**

_What?_  What in the actual fuck?! Is this guy seriously thinking of breaking things off with him through a fucking text message?! While Clyde has also been intending to break things off with him to make things right with Bebe, he didn't think that Craig will actually beat him to it. _Shit, I am not going to be the dumpee here._  With a shaky sigh as an attempt of totally not losing his shit, Clyde pushes in his response.

**'what? why? 8O'**

He leans back against the door and stares at his phone, waiting for Craig's reply which normally takes less than a minute. He hopes the delay of his reply earlier is nothing but a one-time thing. Unfortunately, such does not seem to be the case because a few minutes have passed and his phone has not lit up to life in pursuit of notifying him a new message. Is Craig intentionally ignoring him? Making him wait _this long_  for him? Who the hell does he think he is? You'd have to be a fucking lunatic to dump The Donovan!

_"Clyde?"_

Clyde jumps a bit the second Bebe knocked on the door.

_"Clyde...? You're taking an awful long time there. Everything okay?"_

The brunet chews on his bottom lip and stares down at his phone for another fleeting moment, giving Craig another chance of replying at this very minute. But when nothing came up, he growls to himself before shoving his phone back into the pocket of his jacket. Whatever the hell is going on in that loser's mind, he will get to the bottom of it soon. With another shaky sigh, Clyde musters up a smile and opens the door to see a concerned Bebe standing by the doorway.

"Sorry," he grins sheepishly as he steps out and closes the door behind him. "dad doesn't really keep his files organized so it wasn't easy looking for the exact ones he's asking about. Anyways, is dinner ready?"

"Almost." Bebe smiles, her perfectly manicured fingers reaching to tug her boyfriend's hand and pulling him along with her to the kitchen. "I was getting lonely in there. And kinda scared too since it's too quiet."

Clyde laughs and wraps his arms around the blonde's waist, earning a squeak of surprise from the girl. "Don't worry, dad won't be home until tomorrow so we can make as much noise as we want _all night_."


	7. Their Tears

Wendy buries his face onto her pillow, striving for all what she's got to tune out the incessant buzzing of her phone in view of the fact it's too far ahead for somebody to be calling her granted that she typically wakes up around six in the morning. Whoever it is calling her, they will have to wait until she gets her much essential eight hours of slumber— even if that aggravating caller is Stan. Most unfortunately for the valedictorian, a few more minutes have glided by and it seems like the person decisively has no intention of dropping the line at all. With an annoyed groan, Wendy rolls over to reach for her phone from the bedside table. The second her phone ignites up to blind her with its all too beaming screen, Wendy hisses in annoyance and doesn't bother to check who the caller is before answering the call.

"Mmhello?" She manages to mumble out, intentionally making it sound like they have just literally ruined her sleep.

The caller doesn't seem to notice. "Wendy! I'm freaking out right now."

And just like that, Wendy is up in a flash just by the sound of Bebe's frantic hushed tone. She quickly sits up and rubs her eyes. "Why? What's wrong?" She glances over at her clock to see that it's almost quarter to six and for some unsurprising reason, she feels uncomfortable having to wake up a few minutes before her usual hour.

Bebe doesn't say anything at first and this pushes Wendy further into immense concern. "Bebe? What's—?"

"It's Clyde."

"What? What did Clyde do? Did he hurt you...?!"

"N-No! He would never do that!" Judging by how Bebe is evidently keeping the volume of her voice in check, Wendy knows that the blonde must be in the jock's place; presumably in his bathroom.

"Oh." She sighs in relief. "Then what's wrong?"

"It's... well... it's really been bothering me and I haven't gotten a wink of sleep all night." Wendy frowns at her friend's confession, knowing fully well that Bebe is just as dead set about her sleeping schedule as she is but for all different reasons. Bebe claims that she needs her beauty sleep while Wendy believes that she needs enough sleep to keep her exertive and functioning in school. The dark-haired girl doesn't say anything, waiting for her friend to respond and she thankfully does. "You know that we haven't been really having sex lately, right? I mean, it's been weeks since we last had sex.  _Weeks!_  I thought that maybe Clyde has just been stressed recently with the whole basketball practice—"

"—but didn't he say that sex is his greatest stress release?" Wendy inquires with a quirked brow.

"Exactly!" Bebe fails to control her voice at this but Wendy could tell that she has flinched in realization for she has resumed back to her hushed tone. "But last night... I was determined to go all the way with him. I even wore that red lacy bra that he likes so much and he's told me twice last night that we'll be having sex. His tone was oddly determined and I just figured that perhaps he's also caught on the fact that we haven't done it for a while. After dinner, we started making out on the way to his bedroom. We got to his bed but before I could even get my shirt off, he suddenly told me that he's tired.  _Tired of what?!_  He didn't have basketball practice yesterday and he didn't help much in making our dinner!"

That is odd, Wendy believes. As unfortunate as it is for her, Bebe always tells her the tales of her incredible sex life with Clyde— like how the guy is always keen on concentrating on her before prioritizing himself. He is always eager to please which is quite rare to find in guys these days. She sometimes has to remind Stan that girls need orgasm too. Clyde is definitely a keeper and is never embarrassed to present his genuine love for Bebe even if it embarrasses the blonde. So now, hearing her best friend's story of the events last night, Wendy is finding it all too hard to believe. Clyde is head over heels for Bebe! For heaven's sake, he got ridiculously possessive when he saw her giving Bebe a goodbye kiss on the cheek.

"Maybe he has a headache?" Wendy tries.

"He seemed perfectly okay before that." Bebe releases an exhausted sigh. "I'm just... ugh, I'm just so confused right now. You don't think... You don't think he's getting tired of me, do you?"

"No!" Wendy shakes her head in spite of only communicating with her best friend through the phone. "I'm sure he has his reasons. I believe the most rational thing to do is to talk to him about it."

"Oh, yeah, because a girl asking for sex is  _so_  acceptable in modern day's society." Bebe scoffs in derision and Wendy purses her lips at that.

"You know Clyde doesn't think like that. Remember how someone told him about all the guys you've slept with when you started dating him and you were so scared that he was going to leave you because he doesn't want to be seen as the guy who's dating a slut?" Bebe remains silent at the recollection so Wendy continues. "He told you that everyone has a past they want to forget. All that matters is that you love him and he loves you. He even snapped at the girls you two overheard calling you all different kinds of names. You know how much he despises the mere thought of slut-shaming. You've cried for days because of your reputation and you even tried to break up with him to save him the embarrassment of being seen with you but what did he do?  _He stayed by your side._  I doubt he's getting tired of you, Bebe and I'm certain he never will. Maybe he's just having some personal issues lately which is why you need to talk to him about this. Let him know that you're willing to support him with whatever it is he's going through like he did to you."

She hears Bebe sigh from the other line and Wendy immediately knows that she has convinced the blonde. "All right," Bebe says. "I'll talk to him. You're right. He loves me. He's proven that to me a lot of times now. I feel so bad thinking that he's..."

Wendy blinks, somehow knowing where her friend's assumption is going but she wants to make sure. "He's what?"

"...cheating on me."

Wendy couldn't blame her. There is a ridiculous record of guys at school who have cheated on their girlfriends after all but Clyde's one of the few who's never done so. Based on what she heard, the jock has even tried talking a few of the guys out of the idea of cheating on their partners. "I doubt it, Bebe. Don't worry."

"Right. Thanks, Wendy..."

* * *

Clyde isn't liking this one bit. He hates the undeniable fact that Craig has been occupying his thoughts since last night right up to the point that he couldn't get himself in the mood to sleep with Bebe. Guilt clenches his throat upon recalling the surprise and disappointment that had dawned upon his girlfriend's gorgeous face when he lied that he was tired. She must have been looking forward to it considering they've never had sex in a long while but the most disturbing thing about that is that up until now, he's not longing for those intimate touches with her. Before, the mere brushing of her lips against his was enough to turn him into a giddy little fanboy but now, things are different. Instead, he's been thinking about someone else's touches. The rough squeezes on his hips, the desperate messing of his hair, the impatient movement of his tongue against his— Craig's touches are nothing similar to Bebe's careful ones. With Craig, Clyde somehow feels good about himself and not in a high-handed way but in a way where he feels appreciated and desperately desired. Whenever he kisses Craig, it always seems like they can never have enough time for each other because the taller male's flow is always rough and impatient but still mindful at the same time. It's almost as though he's straying from the motive of breaking the kiss for it could push them back to the reality of fact that what they're doing is wrong.

"Donovan," Clyde blinks his thoughts away upon realizing that the teacher has just called for his attention. "since you seem to find the back of Tucker's head far more interesting than my lesson, then I am assuming you've already perfected the equation and I suggest you answer the problem on the board."

Snickers render the air at the teacher's statement along with a muttered 'faggot' from Cartman to which Clyde could only roll his eyes at, trying his very best to ignore the crimson heat dusting his cheeks. Craig doesn't seem to react though, his head still lowered down to whatever the hell he's scribbling on his notebook. Clyde clears his throat a tad bit nervously before standing up and taking the piece of chalk the teacher has offered to him, his eyes fixated on the board.

Fuck Math.

"Problem, Mr. Donovan?" The teacher quirks his brow at the jock's direction.

"Erm…" Clyde offers him a sheepish grin while scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, I dunno the answer. Sorry sir, I promise I'll listen this time."

The teacher gives him a warning look for a fleeting moment but sighs eventually and takes the piece of chalk from the young student. "Kids these days…" He mutters before resuming the lesson, letting Clyde return back to his seat. Once Clyde finally reaches his seat, he catches Bebe giving him a confused and worried look but he could only grant her a smile and a casual wave of his hand just to insinuate that he's okay. She doesn't seem too impressed but focuses back on the lesson much to his relief. Clyde sighs and runs his fingers through his chestnut-hued locks, eyes fixated on the board but his mind still far from what is being taught to them. Craig has still not responded to any of his text messages at all, as if he plans on really breaking things up with him without even a goddamn explanation. What the fuck is that all about? Confronting him tonight at his house would be evidently futile because he wouldn't even be sure if Craig would be home or if he'd actually unlock the window for him.

Chewing on his bottom lip, Clyde decides to rip a page from his notebook and starts scribbling away.

' _ **Meet me at the back of the school after class. Don't even think of getting yourself out of this, you asshole.'**_

He couldn't be caught slipping this in Craig's locker though. He needs to ask someone to do this for him— someone he could trust. Kyle and Kenny are definitely off the list because they wouldn't shut themselves up from asking too many questions. Cartman's a big no too and Stan is Wendy's boyfriend; no doubt he'd tell Wendy about this and Wendy will certainly blab this to Bebe. Token's off the list too since he's one of the least people who should know about what's going on between his two childhood friends. Tweek blurts out secrets a lot and Butters is a fucking blabbermouth so they can't also can't be trusted.

"Psst, C-Clyde. Can I borrow your e-e-e-erayyy…. e-eraaaayyy… your errayyy… Can I b-borrow your eraser?" Jimmy leans in to interrupt his thoughts with a soft whisper.

Oh, what the hell.

* * *

"You've been awfully quiet." Craig notices as he reaches up to open his locker and shove his books in.

"Argh!" Comes Tweek's foreseen response as though he had been accused of something so vile. He brings his shaking fingers up to his own locker, finding it hard to get the combination right before finally managing to do so. "I'm so sorry! I'm just having a hard time—ngh— believing that you wanted to go out with me!"

Craig takes notice of how Tweek's naturally ear-piercing voice has caught some of the students' attention around them but he pays them no heed. After all, everybody has been expecting this to happen sooner or later just as Bebe had claimed. He just didn't like the thought of being the center of attention but deciding to date Tweek who tends to talk too loud without meaning to, he knows that they'll be earning a lot of glances whether he likes it or not. He fights back a grimace at the number of times their classmates insisted him to ask Tweek out, with Clyde being part of the list though it's mostly to conform to his gang. Speaking of the brunet, what the hell was he thinking giving him long looks in the hallway and in the classroom? If someone eventually catches on to his looks, they'll figure something is up and the last thing Craig wants right now is to be seen as a fucking home wrecker.

It's true that the way he had broken things off with him is certainly the kind of thing an asshole would do but Craig has figured that there's no other better way to settle it. If he did it face to face, chances are Clyde will be able to persuade him into staying with his natural charm and Craig is more than certain that he constantly uses that to get out of arguments with Bebe. Craig doesn't even know why he falls for that sick trap— every time Clyde would just so much as show that boyish smile of his and give him a quick peck on the lips, every concern Craig has gets thrown off the window. Clyde can be very manipulative and Craig couldn't tell if he's doing it on purpose or not.

"Why's that so hard to believe?" He sighs as he arranges his books in an alphabetical manner. "Everyone's been telling us to hook up for these past few months anyway."

Tweek goes surprisingly quiet for a few seconds before uttering his response. "Yes but… is that the reason why you— gyah!"

Craig whips his attention on the trembling blond to see his wide emerald-tinted eyes looking down in horror at a note that has fallen down on the floor the second he opened his locker.

"Oh Jesus!" The blond screeches in fear. "W-What the hell is that?! I don't remember leaving a piece of paper inside! Oh God, does somebody know the combination to my l-locker?!"

"Someone probably slipped it inside your locker for you." Craig shakes his head while bending down to pick the note up and turning it around to be welcomed by the sight of terrible handwriting. It looks familiar but he couldn't put a finger on it. "Meet me at the back of the school after class. Don't even think of getting yourself out of this, you asshole." He reads it out loud with a suspicious quirked brow. He directs his gaze on his friend who half-screams in response to his unforeseen glance. Craig studies him for a second but before Tweek could ask, he speaks up. "Did you piss someone off earlier?" It seems unlikely because Tweek is the type who always tries his very best to keep himself out of trouble. But then again, one can never be too sure.

"I don't know!" Tweek rakes his fingers through his wild blond tendrils, messing it up even further. "Maybe someone just wants to beat me up! I know I'm very annoying and—agh! What do I do?!"

Craig clenches his jaw as he studies the note again. Whoever it is that Tweek had pissed off, they should know better than to pick a fight with him. While it's true that the blond had done some boxing lessons back when they were kids and based on personal experience, Craig knows that Tweek can definitely land a punch, but things are different now. Tweek doesn't like getting into fights anymore. He easily freaks out when someone so much as raise a hand near him. Challenging him to a brawl would be the lowest of decisions and Craig is determined to get that through this bastard's thick skull. He crumples the paper into a ball before tossing it over to the nearest trash can with flawless aim, earning another surprised yelp from his friend who obviously thought that it was going to be thrown at him.

"Come on," Craig tells him as he closes his locker. "let's check who this bastard is."

* * *

' _Jimmy better not screw this up.'_

Clyde runs his digits through his brown locks; his thumb dipped into the pocket of his jeans with his back leaned against the wall. He's rather relieved that the Goth Kids don't hang around here that too often anymore or otherwise, he wouldn't be able to think of a better discreet location to confront Craig. He glances down at his watch once again even though four minutes have only passed since their scheduled hour of encounter. Craig is never a quick walker so Clyde expects him to arrive after ten more minutes. He doesn't mind the wait though. Just as long as he gets some needed information as to why that bastard suddenly wants to break things off with him without an explanation, then it'd be worth the wait.

What if he doesn't come though? What if he knows the note is from him so he decides not to show up at all? Craig has been avoiding him so of course he wouldn't show up.

Clyde frowns as he kicks his boot restlessly on the ground. No, Craig wouldn't ditch him even under these circumstances. He had made that perfectly clear before and Clyde doubts that he will make changes even if things have changed drastically between them.

" _Clyde, all your friends are here. As the birthday boy, you should play with them." The ten-year-old Clyde refused to leave the entrance of Casa Bonita in spite of his mother's persistence of going back to the party, his eyes fixated on the gates in hope to see the familiar blue car of the Tuckers. He shifted a bit on the bottom step of the stairs where he was seated on but didn't grant his mother a glance._

" _I'll be there in five minutes, mom." He finally responded._

_His mother sighed. "Clyde, you said that ten minutes ago. Craig will get here soon. Maybe he and his dad are just stuck in traffic."_

" _I know they are." Clyde insisted with a deep shaky breath. "Craig would never ditch me… especially on my birthday. He got detention earlier and his dad has always been a slow driver."_

_He felt his mother give his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "All right, I'll check up on you in a few minutes. If Craig hasn't arrived by then, you will go back to the party, all right? Bebe and the others are looking for you."_

_Clyde could only nod his head, not even caring that his mother just had to intentionally single Bebe out among the kids. She had always been fond of the blonde and had constantly told him about how nice it would be if he would start dating her once they hit high school. Bebe's really nice… but he had dated her before and after finding out that she had only used him for free shoes, he doubted that he'd get back with her. Girls are gross anyway._

_He sighed as he leaned his chin on his palm. He could hear his party going very well but he couldn't be bothered by the fact that he was missing a lot. It wouldn't be as fun without Craig after all. He always liked the guy's reactions to all the speculations they would chance upon— his snarky comments always eliciting a laugh from the brunet. What if he really had no intention of coming though? What if he eventually decided that Casa Bonita was a lame place to celebrate his birthday at? Craig never really commented on it when Clyde told him all about his mother's plans for his birthday. Maybe Craig was just too cool for this. Maybe he just now realized how high maintenance of a friend he was, seeing as Clyde cried about almost everything. Burning concern clasped the young boy's lungs as he felt the corners of his eyes started to sting, knowing fully well that his water works were about to pour out._

_But before he could get to that supposedly inevitable part, a figure arrived at the gates and Clyde immediately perked up with wide eyes. Arriving by the gates with heavy heaving breaths and cold sweat marking his face was Craig who had collapsed to the ground once he finally reached his destination._

" _Craig!" Clyde cried out, already up on his feet and rushing to his best friend's side. He knelt down beside the taller boy, taking his chullo hat off and wiping his sweat off with the cuff of his jacket. "W-What are you doing running all the way here?! Where's your dad?!"_

_Craig didn't say anything at first for he was too busy catching his breath, managing to find the strength to sit up and push Clyde's hand away from his dampened fringes. "I… I was getting impatient." He finally mustered out. "Dad was taking too long to… to get to school and pick me up… I don't even know what the hell's taking him so long but what I know is that you'd be sitting outside, waiting for me no matter how long it takes." And with that, he grinned and playfully flicked his friend's forehead. "And I was right, you idiot. Don't fucking miss your party for me, dude."_

_At this point, Clyde still ended up exhibiting his water works. "Y-You ran all the way here… for me…" Ugly sobs began to escape his lips as he let his tears run down his cheeks, not even bothering to wipe them off. "W-What were you thinking…! You could have gotten run over or… or… or die out of exhaustion! Craaaiiig!" And with that, he enveloped his arms around the lanky boy who already expected it. He wailed some more and wiped his face on Craig's shoulder but Craig didn't even grimace at the gross gesture. Instead, he just patted Clyde's back with a sigh._

" _You big baby." He muttered though there was trace of affection in it, a tone that was only reserved for Clyde and Clyde alone. "I'd rather get run over than make you believe that I would ever settle on the decision of ditching you."_

" _Don't say that! I don't want you to get run over!" Clyde pulled away to look at his best friend, his face still stained with tears and snot. Clyde really was an ugly crier but Craig just sighed and wiped his face with his own sleeve, his lips twitching a bit to a really small smile. Clyde sobbed and held onto his wrist, leaning his cheek into his friend's hand to which he found it to be very comforting. He was_ _ **this**_ _close to giving up and thinking that Craig had really abandoned him on his birthday. There mere thought of it scared the shit out of him. He couldn't imagine a life without Craig—a life without someone to constantly remind him that it's okay to cry no matter how many people had told him that boys don't cry, a life without someone who knows how to make him laugh without trying too hard, a life without someone who knows him better than he does._

_A life without Craig would be unbearable for him._

"Ack—! C-Clyde?!"

Clyde quickly looks up from the ground after his fleeting moment of recollection to be granted by the sight of Tweek and Craig approaching him just on the right time he had expected. Though he didn't think Craig would bring Tweek along unless the blond is the only one who knows what's going on between them. That must be the case then. He wouldn't have brought Tweek with him it if it isn't. Clyde somehow finds himself getting pissed off at that. They both have decided not to tell anyone about them, even to the people they're closest to but evidently, Tweek appears to be an exception to that rule. What, so he's Craig's best friend now? Clyde manages to tuck away the look of confusion that has threatened to dawn upon his features as he finally moves away from the wall and slips his hands into the pockets of his jacket— his eyes solely focused on his former best friend even though it's Tweek who has taken the first step towards him.

"C-Clyde…?" Tweek waves his hand a bit. "Is there something wro—"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Clyde ignores him as he steps up to Craig, brushing past Tweek. "What makes you think you can just do  _that_  so easily?"

Craig maintains his signature stoic look while eyeing Clyde down. He has already caught on the fact that Clyde must have accidentally slipped the note into Tweek's locker instead of his which isn't much of a shock. A part of him is somehow relieved that nobody's picking a fight with Tweek but a part of him is also pissed that he had to deal with this today. He had assumed that Clyde will eventually just drop it after a number of unanswered text messages but then he remembered that this was Clyde fucking Dononvan and he doesn't let things go easily. His determination of stealing the Stick of Truth back when they were kids and Cartman had kicked him out of the game proved that. He disregards Clyde for a second to look at Tweek who looks so concerned; he's chewing on his bottom lip. "Tweek, can you just wait by the gate?"

"B-But what about you—"

"Tweek, just get lost already." Clyde snaps, already on the brink of his patience. Tweek makes a quick scream before scampering off.

Craig scowls at Clyde's tone. "You fucking know better than to raise your voice at him, Clyde." He says with a tone that is so dangerously dark, most people would have cowered down but not Clyde. Even though he has recognized that tone, he refuses to tread his words carefully. He does feel bad for snapping at Tweek since Tweek did nothing wrong and he had never at all raised his voice at him but he couldn't help himself. Seeing him with Craig… something just clicked inside him.

"Don't change the damn subject,  _Craig_." He snaps though with less venom this time. "This isn't about Tweek. This is about us."

"There was no  _'us'_  to begin with." Craig carries on with his scowl. "If you're getting your panties in a bunch just because I was the first one to break things off with you, then fine. Let's make out one last time then you can break things off with me. Happy?"

Craig's mocking him. The tone may not insinuate it but Clyde can certainly tell. It just pisses him off further that Craig knows exactly why he's angry but now that he's thought about it, there is still another reason why he's this pent up but he couldn't figure it out what it is. Being the dumpee is a huge part of it but there is something else. "That's not the point!" He fails to refrain himself from yelling, wanting to say that Craig's wrong even though his words are spot on.

"What is it then?" Craig sounds impatient, as if he has better things to do.

Clyde stares at him for a moment while his mind reels in for another good reason why he's pissed but he comes out empty. There is another reason but  _what the fuck is it?_  He growls in frustration as he turns away from the taller male, running his fingers through his hair once again in habit of disgruntlement. He shouldn't be losing his cool right now. While Craig seems equally pissed at him, he has still managed to look so calm and collected while Clyde, on the other hand, has raised his voice twice already. He takes a deep breath and finally faces who he used to refer to as his best friend, his posture finally calm but his eyes still fired up with immense infuriation.

"Why are you breaking things off with me?" He finally asks in a controlled tone.

Craig watches him with a hard gaze and a frown but eventually looks off to the side, his hands dug in deep to the pockets of his jacket. "It's going to happen sooner or later."

"Not this soon."

"When, then?" Craig shoots him a sharp look, his lips twisting to a scowl once again. "Tell me, Clyde. When the hell do you think we'll finally stop making a fool of each other? Do I have to wait until you start making lame excuses as to why you couldn't make it? Do I have to eventually know that you'll stop coming by without the effort of making up an excuse anymore? Do I have to sit and watch us drift apart  _again_?" His voice has struggled at one point in the midst of his words and Clyde could see his shoulders shaking in what he couldn't be certain of. "Tell me, Clyde. How the  _fuck_ do you want us to end this shit?"

Clyde stares at him with a slight look of surprise. He has never seen Craig like this. "Craig, what are you—"

" _You left me!"_  Craig finally snaps and Clyde flinches at the sudden tone. "You fucking abandoned me! You figured that I was dragging you down from having a social life! You didn't even bother to talk to me about how you don't want us to be friends anymore! You could have at least given me some kind of closure instead of making me wait for you every day!  _Every fucking day!_  I have wasted my time thinking that you will eventually realize that you haven't hung out with me a-and… and—" A sob interrupts his words as Craig quickly turns away, mentally cursing himself for letting his emotions get to him. He angrily wipes his tears away but still refuses to look at Clyde, not even knowing what kind of look he's giving him. Pity? Disgust? Either way, it gives Craig a twist in the stomach.

"…and now, you have the nerve to just… use me… to let me crawl back to your life as a shameful secret." He says through broken sobs, gritting his teeth as he wills himself to stop crying because it's just downright embarrassing. This isn't the first time he has cried in front of Clyde but it has always been regarded as a rare occurrence. In fact, he has only cried three times: when Red Racer got cancelled, when Stripe passed away, and when he eventually realized that Clyde was never coming back—though he was by himself when he cried for the third time. He shouldn't even be this affected anymore. He has grown accustomed to being abandoned after all. The people in his life always come and go and Clyde and his biological father are the perfect example for that. "I shouldn't have fallen for it… I should have known better than to actually hope that I'd… I'd be good enough to be someone important to you again."

He still refuses to look at Clyde. Instead, he finally turns away and wipes his tears for the last time.

"Just fuck off, Clyde."

And with that, he walks away while Clyde stays rooted on his spot. Just as he reaches the side of the building, he finds Tweek standing there while biting on the nail of his thumb. The blond looks up at him with so much concern but Craig doesn't say anything, knowing that Tweek must have heard everything but won't 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it bad that I hate Clyde in this chapter? Anyways, I've decided to write out the development between the two side pairings: Clybe and Creek, so which one would you prefer to see first on the next chapter? All right, if you have, like questions, you can go and bother me on my tumblr: mukamikou


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